Systems and methods for establishing a cloud bridge between virtual storage resources

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for establishing a cloud bridge between two virtual storage resources and for transmitting data from one first virtual storage resource to the other virtual storage resource. The system can include a first virtual storage resource or cloud, and a storage delivery management service that executes on a computer and within the first virtual storage resource. The storage delivery management service can receive user credentials of a user that identify a storage adapter. Upon receiving the user credentials, the storage delivery management service can invoke the storage adapter which executes an interface that identifies a second virtual storage resource and includes an interface translation file. The storage delivery management service accesses the second virtual storage resource and establishes a cloud bridge with the second virtual storage resource using information obtained from the second virtual storage resource and information translated by the storage adapter using the interface translation file.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Patent Application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/772,977, titled “Systems and Methods for Establishing a CloudBridge Between Virtual Storage Resources,” which will issue as U.S. Pat.No. 8,578,076 on Nov. 5, 2013, and claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/174,660, filed on May 1, 2009, thedisclosures of which are considered part of the disclosure of thisapplication and incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for providingaccess to resources. In particular, this disclosure relates to systemsand methods for delivering resources between local and remote enterprisehosting sites.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In some instances a user can have access to multiple clouds or virtualstorage resources. In these instances, a user can use the clouds tostore information and to access resources available to the user in thecloud. Clouds can be provided by one or more types of services and canbe dedicated to specific functions. For example, a user can have onecloud dedicated to work information and applications, and another clouddedicated to personal applications and information uploaded by the user.There may be points in time when it is desirable to be able to accessinformation and resources available in one cloud from within anothercloud. In other aspects, it may be desirable to ghost the resources andservices available in one cloud in another cloud such that all availableresources and services are available in a single cloud.

Communication between clouds can be difficult because often times itrequires a translation from one set of access commands to another.Similarly, accessing a cloud requires knowledge of user credentials. Itcan be difficult for one cloud to obtain the user credentials requiredto access another cloud, and to further pass the user credentialinformation to the other cloud. Thus, systems and methods are requiredto address the difficulties that arise from trying to establish acommunication bridge between two different clouds.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one aspect, described herein is a method for establishing a cloudbridge between a first virtual storage resource and a second virtualstorage resource, where the cloud bridge can be used to transmit datafrom one virtual storage resource to the other virtual storage resource.A storage delivery management service executing on a computer within afirst virtual storage resource, can receive user credentials of a user,where the user credentials identify a storage adapter. The storagedelivery management service, in response to receiving the usercredentials, can invoke the storage adapter identified in the usercredentials. The invoked storage adapter can then execute an interfaceidentifying a second virtual storage resource and comprising aninterface translation file. The storage delivery management service canthen access the second virtual storage resource via the storage adapter.The storage delivery management service can then establish a cloudbridge between the first virtual storage resource and the second virtualstorage resource using information stored in the second virtual storageresource, the information translated by the storage adapter using theinterface translation file of the second virtual storage resource.

In some embodiments, the method can include enumerating a list ofstorage adapters associated with the user responsive to receiving theuser credentials. In these embodiments, invoking the storage adapter caninclude selecting a storage adapter from the enumerated list of storageadapters, and invoking the selected storage adapter.

In other embodiments, the method includes enumerating a list of virtualstorage resources associated with the storage adapter responsive toinvoking the storage adapter.

In still other embodiments, the method includes enumerating a list ofaccess ports in the second virtual storage resource responsive toinvoking the storage adapter. In some instances the method can furtherinclude selecting an access port from the list of access ports, issuinga connection request to the selected access port, the connection requesttranslated by the storage adapter using the interface translation file.In other instances, the method can further include establishing aconnection to the selected access port of the second virtual storageresource, and accessing data stored in the second virtual storageresource via the access port.

In another aspect, described herein is a system for establishing a cloudbridge between a first virtual storage resource and a second virtualstorage resource for transmitting data from one of either the firstvirtual storage resource and the second virtual storage resource to theother of the first virtual storage resource and the second virtualstorage resource. The system can include a first virtual storageresource and a storage delivery management service that executes on acomputer and that executes within the first virtual storage resource.The storage delivery management service can receive user credentials ofa user, where the user credentials identify a storage adapter. Inresponse to receiving the user credentials, the storage deliverymanagement service can invoke the storage adapter identified in the usercredentials, wherein the storage adapter executes an interfaceidentifying a second virtual storage resource and comprising aninterface translation file. The storage delivery management service canthen access, via the storage adapter, the second virtual storageresource. The storage delivery management service can then establish acloud bridge between the first virtual storage resource and the secondvirtual storage resource using information stored in the second virtualstorage resource, the information translated by the storage adapterusing the interface translation file of the second virtual storageresource.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages ofthe disclosure will become more apparent and better understood byreferring to the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a computingenvironment comprising a hypervisor layer, a virtualization layer, and ahardware layer;

FIGS. 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E are block diagrams depicting embodiments ofcomputing devices useful in connection with the methods and systemsdescribed herein;

FIG. 1F is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a networkenvironment for a client to access a server via one or more networkoptimization appliances;

FIG. 1G is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a networkenvironment for a client to access a server via one or more networkoptimization appliances in conjunction with other network appliances;

FIG. 1H is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a networkenvironment for a client to access a server via a single networkoptimization appliance deployed stand-alone or in conjunction with othernetwork appliances;

FIG. 1I is a block diagram depicting another embodiment of a networkenvironment for a client to access a server via one or more networkoptimization appliances in conjunction with other network appliancesacross one or more networks;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of an appliance forprocessing communications between a client and a server;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram depicting another embodiment of a clientand/or server deploying the network optimization features of theappliance;

FIG. 2C is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a networkenvironment for delivering and/or operating a computing environment on aclient including a performance monitoring service;

FIG. 2D is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of an appliance usinga plurality of monitoring agents to monitor a network service;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a client forcommunicating with a server using the network optimization feature;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system in whicha plurality of networks provide hosting and delivery services;

FIG. 4B is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system forbridging a plurality of networks, one of which provides computing andstorage functionality;

FIG. 5A is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system in whicha cloud services and hosting infrastructure hosts at least one serviceon behalf of an enterprise information technology network;

FIG. 5B is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system in whichan enterprise IT network 408 includes a premise cache server;

FIG. 5C is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system in whichan enterprise IT network 408 includes a premise cache server and a cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406 includes a resource server;

FIG. 5D is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system in whichat least one of an enterprise IT network 408 and a cloud services andhosting infrastructure host a resource server providing end users withaccess to resources such as desktops;

FIG. 5E is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a systemincluding a cloud services and hosting infrastructure, a cloud systemmanagement interface, and a cloud system coordination component;

FIG. 6A is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a system forautomated provisioning, by a storage delivery management service, ofvirtual machines in a cloud computing environment;

FIG. 6B is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a system in whicha storage delivery management service includes a storage systemcommunication component;

FIG. 6C is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system in whichthe storage delivery management service includes a fabric managementcomponent;

FIG. 6D is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a system in whichthe storage delivery management service includes a host computing devicecommunication component;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram depicting an embodiment of a method forautomated provisioning, by a storage delivery management service, ofvirtual machines in a cloud computing environment;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram depicting an embodiment of a method fordynamically switching between communications protocols;

FIG. 9A is a flow diagram depicting one embodiment of a method forretrieving data from a storage system in a cloud computing environment;

FIG. 9B is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a portion of aninterface translation file;

FIG. 9C is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a data modelidentifying data associated with a storage system;

FIG. 9D is a flow diagram depicting another embodiment of a method forretrieving data from a storage system in a cloud computing environment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a system forevaluating historical metrics in selecting a physical host for executionof a virtual machine;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram depicting an embodiment of a method forevaluating historical metrics in selecting a physical host for executionof a virtual machine;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a system toadaptively load balance user sessions, and dynamically manage powermodes for a plurality of servers, to reduce energy consumption;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram depicting one embodiment of the steps taken ina method to adaptively load balance user sessions to reduce energyconsumption;

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram depicting one embodiment of the steps taken ina method for reducing energy consumption by dynamically managing powermodes for a plurality of servers;

FIG. 15A is a block diagram depicting an embodiment a system toadaptively load balance user sessions, and dynamically manage powermodes for a plurality of presentation servers, to reduce energyconsumption;

FIGS. 15B and 15C are charts depicting embodiments of a plurality ofuser sessions before and after consolidation into server groups inconnection with the methods and systems described herein;

FIGS. 16A and 16B are block diagrams depicting embodiments of a systemfor power metering and reporting;

FIGS. 17A and 17B are block diagrams depicting embodiments of a systemfor controlling server consolidation to reduce power consumption;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a system forreducing energy consumption in a plurality of servers; and

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram depicting an embodiment of a method forestablishing a bridge between at least two clouds.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Prior to discussing the specifics of embodiments of the systems andmethods for delivering resources between local and remote enterprisehosting sites, it may be helpful to discuss the network and computingenvironments in which such embodiments may be deployed. Referring now toFIG. 1A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of a virtualizationenvironment. In brief overview, a computing device 100 includes ahypervisor layer, a virtualization layer, and a hardware layer. Thehypervisor layer includes a hypervisor 161 (also referred to as avirtualization manager) that allocates and manages access to a number ofphysical resources in the hardware layer (e.g., the processor(s) 221,and disk(s) 228) by at least one virtual machine executing in thevirtualization layer. The virtualization layer includes at least oneoperating system 170 and a plurality of virtual resources allocated tothe at least one operating system 170. Virtual resources may include,without limitation, a plurality of virtual processors 132 a, 132 b, 132c (generally 132), and virtual disks 142 a, 142 b, 142 c (generally142), as well as virtual resources such as virtual memory and virtualnetwork interfaces. The plurality of virtual resources and the operatingsystem 170 may be referred to as a virtual machine 166. A virtualmachine 166 may include a control operating system 165 in communicationwith the hypervisor 161 and used to execute applications for managingand configuring other virtual machines on the computing device 100.

Referring now to FIG. 1A, and in greater detail, a hypervisor 161 mayprovide virtual resources to an operating system in any manner thatsimulates the operating system having access to a physical device. Ahypervisor 161 may provide virtual resources to any number of guestoperating systems 170 a, 170 b (generally 170). In some embodiments, acomputing device 100 executes one or more types of hypervisors. In theseembodiments, hypervisors may be used to emulate virtual hardware,partition physical hardware, virtualize physical hardware, and executevirtual machines that provide access to computing environments.Hypervisors may include those manufactured by VMWare, Inc., of PaloAlto, Calif.; the XEN hypervisor, an open source product whosedevelopment is overseen by the open source Xen.org community; HyperV,VirtualServer or virtual PC hypervisors provided by Microsoft, orothers. In some embodiments, a computing device 100 executing ahypervisor which creates a virtual machine platform on which guestoperating systems may execute is referred to as a host server. In one ofthese embodiments, for example, the computing device 100 is a XEN SERVERprovided by Citrix Systems, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In some embodiments, a hypervisor 161 executes within an operatingsystem executing on a computing device. In one of these embodiments, acomputing device executing an operating system and a hypervisor 161 maybe said to have a host operating system (the operating system executingon the computing device), and a guest operating system (an operatingsystem executing within a computing resource partition provided by thehypervisor 161). In other embodiments, a hypervisor 161 interactsdirectly with hardware on a computing device, instead of executing on ahost operating system. In one of these embodiments, the hypervisor 161may be said to be executing on “bare metal,” referring to the hardwarecomprising the computing device.

In some embodiments, a hypervisor 161 may create a virtual machine 166a-c (generally 166) in which an operating system 170 executes. In one ofthese embodiments, for example, the hypervisor 161 loads a virtualmachine image to create a virtual machine 166. In another of theseembodiments, the hypervisor 161 executes an operating system 170 withinthe virtual machine 166. In still another of these embodiments, thevirtual machine 166 executes an operating system 170.

In some embodiments, the hypervisor 161 controls processor schedulingand memory partitioning for a virtual machine 166 executing on thecomputing device 100. In one of these embodiments, the hypervisor 161controls the execution of at least one virtual machine 166. In anotherof these embodiments, the hypervisor 161 presents at least one virtualmachine 166 with an abstraction of at least one hardware resourceprovided by the computing device 100. In other embodiments, thehypervisor 161 controls whether and how physical processor capabilitiesare presented to the virtual machine 166.

A control operating system 165 may execute at least one application formanaging and configuring the guest operating systems. In one embodiment,the control operating system 165 may execute an administrativeapplication, such as an application including a user interface providingadministrators with access to functionality for managing the executionof a virtual machine, including functionality for executing a virtualmachine, terminating an execution of a virtual machine, or identifying atype of physical resource for allocation to the virtual machine. Inanother embodiment, the hypervisor 161 executes the control operatingsystem 165 within a virtual machine 166 created by the hypervisor 161.In still another embodiment, the control operating system 165 executesin a virtual machine 166 that is authorized to directly access physicalresources on the computing device 100. In some embodiments, a controloperating system 165 a on a computing device 100 a may exchange datawith a control operating system 165 b on a computing device 100 b, viacommunications between a hypervisor 161 a and a hypervisor 161 b. Inthis way, one or more computing devices 100 may exchange data with oneor more of the other computing devices 100 regarding processors andother physical resources available in a pool of resources. In one ofthese embodiments, this functionality allows a hypervisor to manage apool of resources distributed across a plurality of physical computingdevices. In another of these embodiments, multiple hypervisors manageone or more of the guest operating systems executed on one of thecomputing devices 100.

In one embodiment, the control operating system 165 executes in avirtual machine 166 that is authorized to interact with at least oneguest operating system 170. In another embodiment, a guest operatingsystem 170 communicates with the control operating system 165 via thehypervisor 161 in order to request access to a disk or a network. Instill another embodiment, the guest operating system 170 and the controloperating system 165 may communicate via a communication channelestablished by the hypervisor 161, such as, for example, via a pluralityof shared memory pages made available by the hypervisor 161.

In some embodiments, the control operating system 165 includes a networkback-end driver for communicating directly with networking hardwareprovided by the computing device 100. In one of these embodiments, thenetwork back-end driver processes at least one virtual machine requestfrom at least one guest operating system 170. In other embodiments, thecontrol operating system 165 includes a block back-end driver forcommunicating with a storage element on the computing device 100. In oneof these embodiments, the block back-end driver reads and writes datafrom the storage element based upon at least one request received from aguest operating system 170.

In one embodiment, the control operating system 165 includes a toolsstack 164. In another embodiment, a tools stack 164 providesfunctionality for interacting with the hypervisor 161, communicatingwith other control operating systems 165 (for example, on a secondcomputing device 100 b), or managing virtual machines 166 b, 166 c onthe computing device 100. In another embodiment, the tools stack 164includes customized applications for providing improved managementfunctionality to an administrator of a virtual machine farm. In someembodiments, at least one of the tools stack 164 and the controloperating system 165 include a management API that provides an interfacefor remotely configuring and controlling virtual machines 166 running ona computing device 100. In other embodiments, the control operatingsystem 165 communicates with the hypervisor 161 through the tools stack164.

In one embodiment, the hypervisor 161 executes a guest operating system170 within a virtual machine 166 created by the hypervisor 161. Inanother embodiment, the guest operating system 170 provides a user ofthe computing device 100 with access to resources within a computingenvironment. In still another embodiment, a resource includes a program,an application, a document, a file, a plurality of applications, aplurality of files, an executable program file, a desktop environment, acomputing environment, or other resource made available to a user of thecomputing device 100. In yet another embodiment, the resource may bedelivered to the computing device 100 via a plurality of access methodsincluding, but not limited to, conventional installation directly on thecomputing device 100, delivery to the computing device 100 via a methodfor application streaming, delivery to the computing device 100 ofoutput data generated by an execution of the resource on a secondcomputing device 100′ and communicated to the computing device 100 via apresentation layer protocol, delivery to the computing device 100 ofoutput data generated by an execution of the resource via a virtualmachine executing on a second computing device 100′, or execution from aremovable storage device connected to the computing device 100, such asa USB device, or via a virtual machine executing on the computing device100 and generating output data. In some embodiments, the computingdevice 100 transmits output data generated by the execution of theresource to another computing device 100′.

In one embodiment, the guest operating system 170, in conjunction withthe virtual machine on which it executes, forms a fully-virtualizedvirtual machine that is not aware that it is a virtual machine; such amachine may be referred to as a “Domain U HVM (Hardware Virtual Machine)virtual machine”. In another embodiment, a fully-virtualized machineincludes software emulating a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) in orderto execute an operating system within the fully-virtualized machine. Instill another embodiment, a fully-virtualized machine may include adriver that provides functionality by communicating with the hypervisor161; in such an embodiment, the driver is typically aware that itexecutes within a virtualized environment.

In another embodiment, the guest operating system 170, in conjunctionwith the virtual machine on which it executes, forms a paravirtualizedvirtual machine, which is aware that it is a virtual machine; such amachine may be referred to as a “Domain U PV virtual machine”. Inanother embodiment, a paravirtualized machine includes additionaldrivers that a fully-virtualized machine does not include. In stillanother embodiment, the paravirtualized machine includes the networkback-end driver and the block back-end driver included in a controloperating system 165, as described above.

The computing device 100—and the client 102, server 106, appliance 200,and appliance 205 described in greater detail below—may be deployed asand/or executed on any type and form of computing device, such as acomputer, network device or appliance capable of communicating on anytype and form of network and performing the operations described herein.FIGS. 1B and 1C depict block diagrams of a computing device 100 usefulfor practicing an embodiment of methods and systems described herein. Asshown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, a computing device 100 includes a centralprocessing unit 121, and a main memory unit 122. As shown in FIG. 1B, acomputing device 100 may include a storage device 128, an installationdevice 116, a network interface 118, an I/O controller 123, displaydevices 124 a-124 n, a keyboard 126 and a pointing device 127, such as amouse. The storage device 128 may include, without limitation, anoperating system, software, and a client agent 120. As shown in FIG. 1C,each computing device 100 may also include additional optional elements,such as a memory port 103, a bridge 170, one or more input/outputdevices 130 a-130 n (generally referred to using reference numeral 130),and a cache memory 140 in communication with the central processing unit121.

The central processing unit 121 is any logic circuitry that responds toand processes instructions fetched from the main memory unit 122. Insome embodiments, the central processing unit 121 is provided by amicroprocessor unit, such as: those manufactured by Intel Corporation ofMountain View, Calif.; those manufactured by Motorola Corporation ofSchaumburg, Ill.; those manufactured by Transmeta Corporation of SantaClara, Calif.; the RS/6000 processor, those manufactured byInternational Business Machines of White Plains, N.Y.; or thosemanufactured by Advanced Micro Devices of Sunnyvale, Calif. Thecomputing device 100 may be based on any of these processors, or anyother processor capable of operating as described herein.

Main memory unit 122 may be one or more memory chips capable of storingdata and allowing any storage location to be directly accessed by themicroprocessor 121, such as Static random access memory (SRAM), BurstSRAM or SynchBurst SRAM (BSRAM), Dynamic random access memory (DRAM),Fast Page Mode DRAM (FPM DRAM), Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM), Extended DataOutput DRAM (EDO DRAM), Burst Extended Data Output DRAM (BEDO DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), JEDEC SRAM, PC100 SDRAM, Double Data RateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), SyncLink DRAM (SLDRAM),Direct Rambus DRAM (DRDRAM), or Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM). The mainmemory 122 may be based on any of the above described memory chips, orany other available memory chips capable of operating as describedherein. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, the processor 121communicates with main memory 122 via a system bus 150 (described inmore detail below). FIG. 1C depicts an embodiment of a computing device100 in which the processor communicates directly with main memory 122via a memory port 103. For example, in FIG. 1C the main memory 122 maybe DRDRAM.

FIG. 1C depicts an embodiment in which the main processor 121communicates directly with cache memory 140 via a secondary bus,sometimes referred to as a backside bus. In other embodiments, the mainprocessor 121 communicates with cache memory 140 using the system bus150. Cache memory 140 typically has a faster response time than mainmemory 122 and is typically provided by SRAM, BSRAM, or EDRAM. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 1C, the processor 121 communicates with variousI/O devices 130 via a local system bus 150. Various buses may be used toconnect the central processing unit 121 to any of the I/O devices 130,including a VESA VL bus, an ISA bus, an EISA bus, a MicroChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a PCI bus, a PCI-X bus, a PCI-Express bus, or aNuBus. For embodiments in which the I/O device is a video display 124,the processor 121 may use an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) to communicatewith a display device 124. FIG. 1C depicts an embodiment of a computer100 in which the main processor 121 communicates directly with I/Odevice 130 b via HYPERTRANSPORT, RAPIDIO, or INFINIBAND communicationstechnology. FIG. 1C also depicts an embodiment in which local busses anddirect communication are mixed: the processor 121 communicates with I/Odevice 130 a using a local interconnect bus while communicating with I/Odevice 130 b directly.

Referring ahead to FIG. 1D, the computing device 100 may comprisemultiple processors and may provide functionality for simultaneousexecution of instructions or for simultaneous execution of oneinstruction on more than one piece of data. In some embodiments, thecomputing device 100 may comprise a parallel processor with one or morecores. In one of these embodiments, the computing device 100 is a sharedmemory parallel device, with multiple processors and/or multipleprocessor cores, accessing all available memory as a single globaladdress space. In another of these embodiments, the computing device 100is a distributed memory parallel device with multiple processors eachaccessing local memory only. In still another of these embodiments, thecomputing device 100 has both some memory that is shared and some memorythat can only be accessed by particular processors or subsets ofprocessors. In still even another of these embodiments, the computingdevice 100, such as a multicore microprocessor, combines two or moreindependent processors into a single package, often a single integratedcircuit (IC). In yet another of these embodiments, the computing device100 includes a chip having a CELL BROADBAND ENGINE architecture andincluding a Power processor element and a plurality of synergisticprocessing elements, the Power processor element and the plurality ofsynergistic processing elements linked together by an internal highspeed bus, which may be referred to as an element interconnect bus.

In some embodiments, the processors provide functionality for executionof a single instruction simultaneously on multiple pieces of data(SIMD). In other embodiments, the processors provide functionality forexecution of multiple instructions simultaneously on multiple pieces ofdata (MIMD). In still other embodiments, the processor may use anycombination of SIMD and MIMD cores in a single device.

In some embodiments, the computing device 100 may comprise a graphicsprocessing unit. In one of these embodiments, depicted in FIG. 1E, thecomputing device 100 includes at least one central processing unit 121and at least one graphics processing unit. In another of theseembodiments, the computing device 100 includes at least one parallelprocessing unit and at least one graphics processing unit. In stillanother of these embodiments, the computing device 100 includes aplurality of processing units of any type, one of the plurality ofprocessing units comprising a graphics processing unit.

Referring back to FIG. 1B, a wide variety of I/O devices 130 a-130 n maybe present in the computing device 100. Input devices include keyboards,mice, trackpads, trackballs, microphones, dials, and drawing tablets.Output devices include video displays, speakers, inkjet printers, laserprinters, and dye-sublimation printers. The I/O devices may becontrolled by an I/O controller 123 as shown in FIG. 1B. The I/Ocontroller may control one or more I/O devices such as a keyboard 126and a pointing device 127, e.g., a mouse or optical pen. Furthermore, anI/O device may also provide storage and/or an installation medium 116for the computing device 100. In still other embodiments, the computingdevice 100 may provide USB connections (not shown) to receive handheldUSB storage devices such as the USB Flash Drive line of devicesmanufactured by Twintech Industry, Inc., of Los Alamitos, Calif.

Referring still to FIG. 1B, the computing device 100 may support anysuitable installation device 116, such as a floppy disk drive forreceiving floppy disks such as 3.5-inch, 5.25-inch disks or ZIP disks, aCD-ROM drive, a CD-R/RW drive, a DVD-ROM drive, a flash memory drive,tape drives of various formats, USB device, hard-drive or any otherdevice suitable for installing software and programs. The computingdevice 100 may further comprise a storage device, such as one or morehard disk drives or redundant arrays of independent disks, for storingan operating system and other related software, and for storingapplication software programs such as any program related to the clientagent 120. Optionally, any of the installation devices 116 could also beused as the storage device. Additionally, the operating system and thesoftware can be run from a bootable medium, for example, a bootable CD,such as KNOPPIX, a bootable CD for GNU/Linux that is available as aGNU/Linux distribution from knoppix.net.

Furthermore, the computing device 100 may include a network interface118 to interface to a network through a variety of connectionsincluding, but not limited to, standard telephone lines, LAN or WANlinks (e.g., 802.11, T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25, SNA, DECNET), broadbandconnections (e.g., ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet,Ethernet-over-SONET), wireless connections, or some combination of anyor all of the above. Connections can be established using a variety ofcommunication protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, IPX, SPX, NetBIOS, Ethernet,ARCNET, SONET, SDH, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), RS232, IEEE802.11, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, CDMA, GSM, WiMax anddirect asynchronous connections). In one embodiment, the computingdevice 100 communicates with other computing devices 100′ via any typeand/or form of gateway or tunneling protocol such as Secure Socket Layer(SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS), or the Citrix Gateway Protocolmanufactured by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The networkinterface 118 may comprise a built-in network adapter, network interfacecard, PCMCIA network card, card bus network adapter, wireless networkadapter, USB network adapter, modem or any other device suitable forinterfacing the computing device 100 to any type of network capable ofcommunication and performing the operations described herein.

In some embodiments, the computing device 100 may comprise or beconnected to multiple display devices 124 a-124 n, which each may be ofthe same or different type and/or form. As such, any of the I/O devices130 a-130 n and/or the I/O controller 123 may comprise any type and/orform of suitable hardware, software, or combination of hardware andsoftware to support, enable or provide for the connection and use ofmultiple display devices 124 a-124 n by the computing device 100. Forexample, the computing device 100 may include any type and/or form ofvideo adapter, video card, driver, and/or library to interface,communicate, connect or otherwise use the display devices 124 a-124 n.In one embodiment, a video adapter may comprise multiple connectors tointerface to multiple display devices 124 a-124 n. In other embodiments,the computing device 100 may include multiple video adapters, with eachvideo adapter connected to one or more of the display devices 124 a-124n. In some embodiments, any portion of the operating system of thecomputing device 100 may be configured for using multiple displays 124a-124 n. In other embodiments, one or more of the display devices 124a-124 n may be provided by one or more other computing devices, such ascomputing devices 100 a and 100 b connected to the computing device 100,for example, via a network. These embodiments may include any type ofsoftware designed and constructed to use another computer's displaydevice as a second display device 124 a for the computing device 100.One ordinarily skilled in the art will recognize and appreciate thevarious ways and embodiments that a computing device 100 may beconfigured to have multiple display devices 124 a-124 n.

In further embodiments, an I/O device 130 may be a bridge between thesystem bus 150 and an external communication bus, such as a USB bus, anApple Desktop Bus, an RS-232 serial connection, a SCSI bus, a FireWirebus, a FireWire 800 bus, an Ethernet bus, an AppleTalk bus, a GigabitEthernet bus, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode bus, a HIPPI bus, a SuperHIPPI bus, a SerialPlus bus, a SCI/LAMP bus, a FibreChannel bus, aSerial Attached small computer system interface bus, or a HDMI bus.

A computing device 100 of the sort depicted in FIGS. 1B and 1C typicallyoperates under the control of operating systems, which controlscheduling of tasks and access to system resources. The computing device100 can be running any operating system such as any of the versions ofthe MICROSOFT WINDOWS operating systems, the different releases of theUnix and Linux operating systems, any version of the MAC OS forMacintosh computers, any embedded operating system, any real-timeoperating system, any open source operating system, any proprietaryoperating system, any operating systems for mobile computing devices, orany other operating system capable of running on the computing deviceand performing the operations described herein. Typical operatingsystems include, but are not limited to: WINDOWS 3.x, WINDOWS 95,WINDOWS 98, WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS NT 3.51, WINDOWS NT 4.0, WINDOWS CE,WINDOWS MOBILE, WINDOWS XP, and WINDOWS VISTA, all of which aremanufactured by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; MAC OS,manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif.; OS/2, manufacturedby International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y.; and Linux, afreely-available operating system distributed by Caldera Corp. of SaltLake City, Utah, or any type and/or form of a Unix operating system,among others.

The computer system 100 can be any workstation, telephone, desktopcomputer, laptop or notebook computer, server, handheld computer, mobiletelephone or other portable telecommunications device, media playingdevice, a gaming system, mobile computing device, or any other typeand/or form of computing, telecommunications or media device that iscapable of communication. The computer system 100 has sufficientprocessor power and memory capacity to perform the operations describedherein. For example, the computer system 100 may comprise a device ofthe IPOD family of devices manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino,Calif., a PLAYSTATION 2, PLAYSTATION 3, or PERSONAL PLAYSTATION PORTABLE(PSP) device manufactured by the Sony Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, aNINTENDO DS, NINTENDO GAMEBOY, NINTENDO GAMEBOY ADVANCED or NINTENDOREVOLUTION device manufactured by Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan,or an XBOX or XBOX 360 device manufactured by the Microsoft Corporationof Redmond, Wash.

In some embodiments, the computing device 100 may have differentprocessors, operating systems, and input devices consistent with thedevice. For example, in one embodiment, the computing device 100 is aTREO 180, 270, 600, 650, 680, 700p, 700w/wx, 750, 755p, 800w, Centro, orPro smart phone manufactured by Palm, Inc. In some of these embodiments,the TREO smart phone is operated under the control of the PalmOSoperating system and includes a stylus input device as well as afive-way navigator device.

In other embodiments, the computing device 100 is a mobile device, suchas a JAVA-enabled cellular telephone or personal digital assistant(PDA), such as the i55sr, i58sr, i85s, i88s, i90c, i95c1, i335, i365,i570, I576, i580, i615, i760, i836, i850, i870, i880, i920, i930, ic502,ic602, ic902, i776 or the im1100, all of which are manufactured byMotorola Corp. of Schaumburg, Ill., the 6035 or the 7135, manufacturedby Kyocera of Kyoto, Japan, or the i300 or i330, manufactured by SamsungElectronics Co., Ltd., of Seoul, Korea. In some embodiments, thecomputing device 100 is a mobile device manufactured by Nokia ofFinland, or by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB of Lund, Sweden.

In still other embodiments, the computing device 100 is a Blackberryhandheld or smart phone, such as the devices manufactured by Research InMotion Limited, including the Blackberry 7100 series, 8700 series, 7700series, 7200 series, the Blackberry 7520, the Blackberry PEARL 8100, the8700 series, the 8800 series, the Blackberry Storm, Blackberry Bold,Blackberry Curve 8900, and the Blackberry Pearl Flip. In yet otherembodiments, the computing device 100 is a smart phone, Pocket PC,Pocket PC Phone, or other handheld mobile device supporting MicrosoftWindows Mobile Software. Moreover, the computing device 100 can be anyworkstation, desktop computer, laptop or notebook computer, server,handheld computer, mobile telephone, any other computer, or other formof computing or telecommunications device that is capable ofcommunication and that has sufficient processor power and memorycapacity to perform the operations described herein.

In some embodiments, the computing device 100 is a digital audio player.In one of these embodiments, the computing device 100 is a digital audioplayer such as the Apple IPOD, IPOD Touch, IPOD NANO, and IPOD SHUFFLElines of devices, manufactured by Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif. Inanother of these embodiments, the digital audio player may function asboth a portable media player and as a mass storage device. In otherembodiments, the computing device 100 is a digital audio player such asthe DigitalAudioPlayer Select MP3 players, manufactured by SamsungElectronics America, of Ridgefield Park, N.J., or the Motorola m500 orm25 Digital Audio Players, manufactured by Motorola Inc. of Schaumburg,Ill. In still other embodiments, the computing device 100 is a portablemedia player, such as the ZEN VISION W, the ZEN VISION series, the ZENPORTABLE MEDIA CENTER devices, or the Digital MP3 line of MP3 players,manufactured by Creative Technologies Ltd. In yet other embodiments, thecomputing device 100 is a portable media player or digital audio playersupporting file formats including, but not limited to, MP3, WAV,M4A/AAC, WMA Protected AAC, AIFF, Audible audiobook, Apple Losslessaudio file formats and .mov, .m4v, and .mp4MPEG-4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC)video file formats.

In some embodiments, the computing device 100 includes a combination ofdevices, such as a mobile phone combined with a digital audio player orportable media player. In one of these embodiments, the computing device100 is a smartphone, for example, an iPhone manufactured by AppleComputer, or a Blackberry device, manufactured by Research In MotionLimited. In yet another embodiment, the computing device 100 is a laptopor desktop computer equipped with a web browser and a microphone andspeaker system, such as a telephony headset. In these embodiments, thecomputing devices 100 are web-enabled and can receive and initiate phonecalls. In other embodiments, the communications device 100 is a MotorolaRAZR or Motorola ROKR line of combination digital audio players andmobile phones.

A computing device 100 may be a file server, application server, webserver, proxy server, appliance, network appliance, gateway, applicationgateway, gateway server, virtualization server, deployment server, SSLVPN server, or firewall. In some embodiments, a computing device 100provides a remote authentication dial-in user service, and is referredto as a RADIUS server. In other embodiments, a computing device 100 mayhave the capacity to function as either an application server or as amaster application server. In still other embodiments, a computingdevice 100 is a blade server.

In some embodiments, a computing device 100 may include an ActiveDirectory. The computing device 100 may be an application accelerationappliance. For embodiments in which the computing device 100 is anapplication acceleration appliance, the computing device 100 may providefunctionality including firewall functionality, application firewallfunctionality, or load balancing functionality. In some embodiments, thecomputing device 100 comprises an appliance such as one of the line ofappliances manufactured by the Citrix Application Networking Group, ofSan Jose, Calif., or Silver Peak Systems, Inc., of Mountain View,Calif., or of Riverbed Technology, Inc., of San Francisco, Calif., or ofF5 Networks, Inc., of Seattle, Wash., or of Juniper Networks, Inc., ofSunnyvale, Calif.

In some embodiments, a computing device 100 may be referred to as aserver. In other embodiments, a computing device 100 may be referred toas a client node, a client machine, an endpoint node, or an endpoint. Insome embodiments, a client 100 has the capacity to function as both aclient node seeking access to resources provided by a server and as aserver node providing access to hosted resources for other clients.

In some embodiments, a first computing device 100 a communicates with asecond, server computing device 100 b. Such a computing device 100 a mayalso be referred to as client nodes, client machines, endpoint nodes, orendpoints. In one embodiment, the client communicates with one of thecomputing devices 100 in a server farm. Over the network, the clientcan, for example, request execution of various applications hosted bythe computing devices 100 in the server farm and receive output data ofthe results of the application execution for display. In anotherembodiment, the client executes a program neighborhood application tocommunicate with a computing device 100 in a server farm. In otherembodiments, the first computing device 100 a retrieves applications andresources from the second computing device 100 b for execution on thefirst computing device 100 a on behalf of a third computing device 100c. In one of these embodiments, both the first computing device 100 aand the second computing device 100 b may be referred to as servers. Instill other embodiments, a computer system 100 has the capacity tofunction as both a client node seeking access to resources provided by aserver and as a server providing access to hosted resources for othercomputer systems 200.

A computing device 100 may execute, operate or otherwise provide anapplication, which can be any type and/or form of software, program, orexecutable instructions such as any type and/or form of web browser,web-based client, client-server application, a thin-client computingclient, an ActiveX control, or a Java applet, or any other type and/orform of executable instructions capable of executing on the computingdevice 100. In some embodiments, the application may be a server-basedor a remote-based application executed on behalf of a user of a firstcomputing device by a second computing device. In other embodiments, thesecond computing device may display output data to the first, clientcomputing device using any thin-client or remote-display protocol, suchas the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol manufactured byCitrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; the Remote DesktopProtocol (RDP) manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,Wash.; the X11 protocol; the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) protocol,manufactured by AT&T Bell Labs; the SPICE protocol, manufactured byQumranet, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., USA, and of Raanana, Israel; theNet2Display protocol, manufactured by VESA, of Milpitas, Calif.; thePC-over-IP protocol, manufactured by Teradici Corporation, of Burnaby,B.C.; the TCX protocol, manufactured by Wyse Technology, Inc., of SanJose, Calif.; the THINC protocol developed by Columbia University in theCity of New York, of New York, N.Y.; or the Virtual-D protocolsmanufactured by Desktone, Inc., of Chelmsford, Mass. The application canuse any type of protocol and it can be, for example, an HTTP client, anFTP client, an Oscar client, or a Telnet client. In other embodiments,the application comprises any type of software related to voice overInternet protocol (VoIP) communications, such as a soft IP telephone. Infurther embodiments, the application comprises any application relatedto real-time data communications, such as applications for streamingvideo and/or audio.

In some embodiments, a first computing device 100 a executes anapplication on behalf of a user of a client computing device 100 b. Inother embodiments, a computing device 100 a executes a virtual machine,which provides an execution session within which applications execute onbehalf of a user or a client computing devices 100 b. In one of theseembodiments, the execution session is a hosted desktop session. Inanother of these embodiments, the computing device 100 executes aterminal services session. The terminal services session may provide ahosted desktop environment. In still another of these embodiments, theexecution session provides access to a computing environment, which maycomprise one or more of: an application, a plurality of applications, adesktop application, and a desktop session in which one or moreapplications may execute.

In some embodiments, a first computing device 100 a transmits a virtualmachine 166 to a second computing device 100 b for execution. In one ofthese embodiments, the first computing device 100 a transmits a virtualmachine image from which a hypervisor 161 on the second computing device100 b may execute the virtual machine 166. In another of theseembodiments, a control operating system 165 b on the second computingdevice 100 b requests, from a control operating system 165 a on thefirst computing device 100 a, access to a virtual machine image for usein executing a virtual machine 166 b. In still another of theseembodiments, a control operating system 165 b on the second computingdevice 100 b retrieves, from the first computing device 100 a, datarequired to execute a virtual machine 166 b; for example, the firstcomputing device 100 a may be a device on a storage area network, adatabase, or other storage element.

In some embodiments, the first computing device 100 a transmits thevirtual machine image to the second computing device 100 b responsive toa determination that the second computing device 100 b requires thevirtual machine image to satisfy a request from a user of the computingdevice 100 b. In one of these embodiments, for example, a user of thecomputing device 100 b requests access to a resource and a component onthe second computing device 100 b—for example, a control operatingsystem 165—identifies a virtual machine 166 needed to provide access tothe resource.

Referring now to FIG. 1F, an embodiment of a network environment isdepicted. In brief overview, the network environment has one or moreclients 102 a-102 n (also generally referred to as local machine(s) 102,or client(s) 102) in communication with one or more servers 106 a-106 n(also generally referred to as server(s) 106, or remote machine(s) 106)via one or more networks 104, 104′, 104″. In one embodiment, a client102 a may request resources from a server 106 a, while providing thefunctionality of a server 106 b to another client 102 b. In anotherembodiment, the client 102 a may request resources from the server 106 bon behalf of a user of the client 102 a.

In some embodiments, a client 102 communicates with a server 106 via oneor more network optimization appliances 200, 200′ (generally referred toas appliance 200). In one embodiment, the network optimization appliance200 is designed, configured or adapted to optimize Wide Area Network(WAN) network traffic. In some embodiments, a first appliance 200 worksin conjunction or cooperation with a second appliance 200′ to optimizenetwork traffic. For example, a first appliance 200 may be locatedbetween a branch office and a WAN connection while the second appliance200′ is located between the WAN and a corporate Local Area Network(LAN). The appliances 200 and 200′ may work together to optimize the WANrelated network traffic between a client in the branch office and aserver on the corporate LAN.

Although FIG. 1F shows a network 104, network 104′ and network 104″(generally referred to as network(s) 104) between the clients 102 andthe servers 106, the clients 102 and the servers 106 may be on the samenetwork 104. The networks 104, 104′, 104″ can be the same type ofnetwork or different types of networks. The network 104 can be alocal-area network (LAN), such as a company Intranet, a metropolitanarea network (MAN), or a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internetor the World Wide Web. The networks 104, 104′, 104″ can be a private orpublic network. In one embodiment, network 104′ or network 104″ may be aprivate network and network 104 may be a public network. In someembodiments, network 104 may be a private network and network 104′and/or network 104″ a public network. In another embodiment, networks104, 104′, 104″ may be private networks. In some embodiments, clients102 may be located at a branch office of a corporate enterprisecommunicating via a WAN connection over the network 104 to the servers106 located on a corporate LAN in a corporate data center.

The network 104 may be any type and/or form of network and may includeany of the following: a point to point network, a broadcast network, awide area network, a local area network, a telecommunications network, adata communication network, a computer network, an ATM (AsynchronousTransfer Mode) network, a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) network, aSDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network, a wireless network and awireline network. In some embodiments, the network 104 may comprise awireless link, such as an infrared channel or satellite band. Thetopology of the network 104 may be a bus, star, or ring networktopology. The network 104 and network topology may be of any suchnetwork or network topology as known to those ordinarily skilled in theart capable of supporting the operations described herein.

As depicted in FIG. 1F, a first network optimization appliance 200 isshown between networks 104 and 104′ and a second network optimizationappliance 200′ is also between networks 104′ and 104″. In someembodiments, the appliance 200 may be located on network 104. Forexample, a corporate enterprise may deploy an appliance 200 at a branchoffice. In other embodiments, the appliance 200 may be located onnetwork 104′. In some embodiments, the appliance 200′ may be located onnetwork 104′ or network 104″. For example, an appliance 200 may belocated at a corporate data center. In one embodiment, the appliance 200and 200′ are on the same network. In another embodiment, the appliance200 and 200′ are on different networks.

In one embodiment, the appliance 200 is a device for accelerating,optimizing or otherwise improving the performance, operation, or qualityof service of any type and form of network traffic. In some embodiments,the appliance 200 is a performance enhancing proxy. In otherembodiments, the appliance 200 is any type and form of WAN optimizationor acceleration device, sometimes also referred to as a WAN optimizationcontroller. In one embodiment, the appliance 200 is any of the productembodiments referred to as WANScaler manufactured by Citrix Systems,Inc., of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. In other embodiments, the appliance 200includes any of the product embodiments referred to as BIG-IP linkcontroller and WANjet manufactured by F5 Networks, Inc. of Seattle,Wash. In another embodiment, the appliance 200 includes any of the WXand WXC WAN acceleration device platforms manufactured by JuniperNetworks, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. In some embodiments, the appliance200 includes any of the steelhead line of WAN optimization appliancesmanufactured by Riverbed Technology of San Francisco, Calif. In otherembodiments, the appliance 200 includes any of the WAN related devicesmanufactured by Expand Networks Inc. of Roseland, N.J. In oneembodiment, the appliance 200 includes any of the WAN related appliancesmanufactured by Packeteer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., such as thePacketShaper, iShared, and SkyX product embodiments provided byPacketeer. In yet another embodiment, the appliance 200 includes any WANrelated appliances and/or software manufactured by Cisco Systems, Inc.of San Jose, Calif., such as the Cisco Wide Area Network ApplicationServices software and network modules, and Wide Area Network engineappliances.

In some embodiments, the appliance 200 provides application and dataacceleration services for branch-office or remote offices. In oneembodiment, the appliance 200 includes optimization of Wide Area FileServices (WAFS). In another embodiment, the appliance 200 acceleratesthe delivery of files, such as via the Common Internet File System(CIFS) protocol. In other embodiments, the appliance 200 providescaching in memory and/or storage to accelerate delivery of applicationsand data. In one embodiment, the appliance 205 provides compression ofnetwork traffic at any level of the network stack or at any protocol ornetwork layer. In another embodiment, the appliance 200 providestransport layer protocol optimizations, flow control, performanceenhancements or modifications and/or management to accelerate deliveryof applications and data over a WAN connection. For example, in oneembodiment, the appliance 200 provides Transport Control Protocol (TCP)optimizations. In other embodiments, the appliance 200 providesoptimizations, flow control, performance enhancements or modificationsand/or management for any session or application layer protocol. Furtherdetails of the optimization techniques, operations and architecture ofthe appliance 200 are discussed below.

Still referring to FIG. 1F, the network environment may includemultiple, logically grouped servers 106. In these embodiments, thelogical group of servers may be referred to as a server farm 38. In someof these embodiments, the serves 106 may be geographically dispersed. Insome cases, a farm 38 may be administered as a single entity. In otherembodiments, the server farm 38 comprises a plurality of server farms38. In one embodiment, the server farm executes one or more applicationson behalf of one or more clients 102.

In one embodiment, servers 106 in the server farm 38 may be stored inhigh-density rack systems, along with associated storage systems, andlocated in an enterprise data center. In this embodiment, consolidatingthe servers 106 in this way may improve system manageability, datasecurity, the physical security of the system, and system performance bylocating servers 106 and high performance storage systems on localizedhigh performance networks. Centralizing the servers 106 and storagesystems and coupling them with advanced system management tools allowsmore efficient use of server resources.

The servers 106 within each farm 38 can be heterogeneous. One or more ofthe servers 106 can operate according to one type of operating systemplatform (e.g., WINDOWS NT, manufactured by Microsoft Corp. of Redmond,Wash.), while one or more of the other servers 106 can operate onaccording to another type of operating system platform (e.g., Unix orLinux). The servers 106 of each farm 38 do not need to be physicallyproximate to another server 106 in the same farm 38. Thus, the group ofservers 106 logically grouped as a farm 38 may be interconnected using awide-area network (WAN) connection or metropolitan-area network (MAN)connection. For example, a farm 38 may include servers 106 physicallylocated in different continents or different regions of a continent,country, state, city, campus, or room. Data transmission speeds betweenservers 106 in the farm 38 can be increased if the servers 106 areconnected using a local-area network (LAN) connection or some form ofdirect connection. Additionally, a heterogeneous server farm 38 mayinclude one or more servers 106 operating according to a type ofoperating system, while one or more other servers 106 execute one ormore types of hypervisors rather than operating systems. In theseembodiments, hypervisors may be used to emulate virtual hardware,partition physical hardware, virtualize physical hardware, and executevirtual machines that provide access to computing environments.Hypervisors may include those manufactured by VMWare, Inc., of PaloAlto, Calif., the Xen hypervisor, an open source product whosedevelopment is overseen by Citrix Systems, Inc., the VirtualServer orvirtual PC hypervisors provided by Microsoft, or others.

In order to manage a server farm 38, at least one aspect of theperformance of servers 106 in the server farm 38 should be monitored.Typically, the load placed on each server 106 or the status of sessionsrunning on each server 106 is monitored. In some embodiments, acentralized service may provide management for server farm 38. Thecentralized service may gather and store information about a pluralityof servers 106, respond to requests for access to resources hosted byservers 106, and enable the establishment of connections between clientmachines 102 and servers 106.

Alternatively, management of the server farm 38 may be de-centralized.For example, one or more servers 106 may comprise components, subsystemsand modules to support one or more management services for the serverfarm 38. In one of these embodiments, one or more servers 106 providefunctionality for management of dynamic data, including techniques forhandling failover, data replication, and increasing the robustness ofthe server farm 38. Each server 106 may communicate with a persistentstore and, in some embodiments, with a dynamic store.

In some embodiments, a hypervisor executes on a server 106 executing anoperating system. In one of these embodiments, a server 106 executing anoperating system and a hypervisor may be said to have a host operatingsystem (the operating system executing on the machine), and a guestoperating system (an operating system executing within a computingresource partition provided by the hypervisor). In other embodiments, ahypervisor interacts directly with hardware on a server 106, instead ofexecuting on a host operating system. In one of these embodiments, thehypervisor may be said to be executing on “bare metal,” referring to thehardware comprising the server 106.

In some embodiments, a server 106 executes an application on behalf of auser of a client 102. In other embodiments, a server 106 executes avirtual machine, which provides an execution session within whichapplications execute on behalf of a user or a client 102. In one ofthese embodiments, the execution session is a hosted desktop session. Inanother of these embodiments, the execution session provides access to acomputing environment, which may comprise one or more of: anapplication, a plurality of applications, a desktop application, and adesktop session in which one or more applications may execute.

Servers 106 may be referred to as a file server, application server, webserver, proxy server, or gateway server. In some embodiments, a server106 may have the capacity to function as either an application server oras a master application server. In one embodiment, a server 106 mayinclude an Active Directory. The clients 102 may also be referred to asclient nodes or endpoints. In some embodiments, a client 102 has thecapacity to function as both a client node seeking access toapplications on a server and as an application server providing accessto hosted applications for other clients 102 a-102 n.

In some embodiments, a client 102 communicates with a server 106. In oneembodiment, the client 102 communicates directly with one of the servers106 in a farm 38. In another embodiment, the client 102 executes aprogram neighborhood application to communicate with a server 106 in afarm 38. In still another embodiment, the server 106 provides thefunctionality of a master node. In some embodiments, the client 102communicates with the server 106 in the farm 38 through a network 104.Over the network 104, the client 102 can, for example, request executionof various applications hosted by the servers 106 a-106 n in the farm 38and receive output of the results of the application execution fordisplay. In some embodiments, only a master node provides thefunctionality required to identify and provide address informationassociated with a server 106′ hosting a requested application.

In one embodiment, the server 106 provides functionality of a webserver. In another embodiment, the server 106 a receives requests fromthe client 102, forwards the requests to a second server 106 b andresponds to the request by the client 102 with a response to the requestfrom the server 106 b. In still another embodiment, the server 106acquires an enumeration of applications available to the client 102 andaddress information associated with a server 106 hosting an applicationidentified by the enumeration of applications. In yet anotherembodiment, the server 106 presents the response to the request to theclient 102 using a web interface. In one embodiment, the client 102communicates directly with the server 106 to access the identifiedapplication. In another embodiment, the client 102 receives applicationoutput data, such as display data, generated by an execution of theidentified application on the server 106.

Referring now to FIG. 1G, another embodiment of a network environment isdepicted in which the network optimization appliance 200 is deployedwith one or more other appliances 205, 205′ (generally referred to asappliance 205 or second appliance 205) such as a gateway, firewall oracceleration appliance. For example, in one embodiment, the appliance205 is a firewall or security appliance while appliance 205′ is a LANacceleration device. In some embodiments, a client 102 may communicateto a server 106 via one or more of the first appliances 200 and one ormore second appliances 205.

One or more appliances 200 and 205 may be located at any point in thenetwork or network communications path between a client 102 and a server106. In some embodiments, a second appliance 205 may be located on thesame network 104 as the first appliance 200. In other embodiments, thesecond appliance 205 may be located on a different network 104 as thefirst appliance 200. In yet another embodiment, a first appliance 200and second appliance 205 is on the same network, for example network104, while the first appliance 200′ and second appliance 205′ is on thesame network, such as network 104″.

In one embodiment, the second appliance 205 includes any type and formof transport control protocol or transport later terminating device,such as a gateway or firewall device. In one embodiment, the appliance205 terminates the transport control protocol by establishing a firsttransport control protocol connection with the client and a secondtransport control connection with the second appliance or server. Inanother embodiment, the appliance 205 terminates the transport controlprotocol by changing, managing or controlling the behavior of thetransport control protocol connection between the client and the serveror second appliance. For example, the appliance 205 may change, queue,forward or transmit network packets in manner to effectively terminatethe transport control protocol connection or to act or simulate asterminating the connection.

In some embodiments, the second appliance 205 is a performance enhancingproxy. In one embodiment, the appliance 205 provides a virtual privatenetwork (VPN) connection. In some embodiments, the appliance 205provides a Secure Socket Layer VPN (SSL VPN) connection. In otherembodiments, the appliance 205 provides an IPSec (Internet ProtocolSecurity) based VPN connection. In some embodiments, the appliance 205provides any one or more of the following functionality: compression,acceleration, load-balancing, switching/routing, caching, and TransportControl Protocol (TCP) acceleration.

In one embodiment, the appliance 205 is any of the product embodimentsreferred to as Access Gateway, Application Firewall, ApplicationGateway, or NETSCALER manufactured by Citrix Systems, Inc., of FortLauderdale, Fla. As such, in some embodiments, the appliance 205includes any logic, functions, rules, or operations to perform servicesor functionality such as SSL VPN connectivity, SSL offloading,switching/load balancing, Domain Name Service resolution, LANacceleration and an application firewall.

In some embodiments, the appliance 205 provides a SSL VPN connectionbetween a client 102 and a server 106. For example, a client machine 102on a first network 104 requests establishment of a connection to aserver 106 on a second network 104′. In some embodiments, the secondnetwork 104″ is not routable from the first network 104. In otherembodiments, the client 102 is on a public network 104 and the server106 is on a private network 104′, such as a corporate network. In oneembodiment, a client agent intercepts communications of the client 102on the first network 104, encrypts the communications, and transmits thecommunications via a first transport layer connection to the appliance205. The appliance 205 associates the first transport layer connectionon the first network 104 to a second transport layer connection to theserver 106 on the second network 104. The appliance 205 receives theintercepted communication from the client agent, decrypts thecommunications, and transmits the communication to the server 106 on thesecond network 104 via the second transport layer connection. The secondtransport layer connection may be a pooled transport layer connection.In one embodiment, the appliance 205 provides an end-to-end securetransport layer connection for the client 102 between the two networks104, 104′.

In one embodiment, the appliance 205 hosts an Internet protocol (IP)address of the client 102 on the virtual private network 104. The client102 has a local network identifier, such as an Internet protocol (IP)address and/or host name on the first network 104. When connected to thesecond network 104′ via the appliance 205, the appliance 205establishes, assigns or otherwise provides an Intranet IP address, whichis a network identifier, such as IP address and/or host name, for theclient 102 on the second network 104′. The appliance 205 listens for andreceives on the second or private network 104′ for any communicationsdirected towards the client 102 using the client's established IntranetIP address. In one embodiment, the appliance 205 acts as or on behalf ofthe client 102 on the second private network 104.

In some embodiment, the appliance 205 has an encryption engine providinglogic, business rules, functions or operations for handling theprocessing of any security related protocol, such as SSL or TLS, or anyfunction related thereto. For example, the encryption engine encryptsand decrypts network packets, or any portion thereof, communicated viathe appliance 205. The encryption engine may also setup or establish SSLor TLS connections on behalf of the client 102 a-102 n, server 106 a-106n, or appliance 200, 205. As such, the encryption engine providesoffloading and acceleration of SSL processing. In one embodiment, theencryption engine uses a tunneling protocol to provide a virtual privatenetwork between a client 102 a-102 n and a server 106 a-106 n. In someembodiments, the encryption engine uses an encryption processor. Inother embodiments, the encryption engine includes executableinstructions running on an encryption processor.

In some embodiments, the appliance 205 provides one or more of thefollowing acceleration techniques to communications between the client102 and server 106: 1) compression, 2) decompression, 3) TransmissionControl Protocol pooling, 4) Transmission Control Protocol multiplexing,5) Transmission Control Protocol buffering, and 6) caching.

In one embodiment, the appliance 200 relieves servers 106 of much of theprocessing load caused by repeatedly opening and closing transportlayers connections to clients 102 by opening one or more transport layerconnections with each server 106 and maintaining these connections toallow repeated data accesses by clients via the Internet. This techniqueis referred to herein as “connection pooling”.

In some embodiments, in order to seamlessly splice communications from aclient 102 to a server 106 via a pooled transport layer connection, theappliance 205 translates or multiplexes communications by modifyingsequence number and acknowledgment numbers at the transport layerprotocol level. This is referred to as “connection multiplexing”. Insome embodiments, no application layer protocol interaction is required.For example, in the case of an in-bound packet (that is, a packetreceived from a client 102), the source network address of the packet ischanged to that of an output port of appliance 205, and the destinationnetwork address is changed to that of the intended server. In the caseof an outbound packet (that is, one received from a server 106), thesource network address is changed from that of the server 106 to that ofan output port of appliance 205 and the destination address is changedfrom that of appliance 205 to that of the requesting client 102. Thesequence numbers and acknowledgment numbers of the packet are alsotranslated to sequence numbers and acknowledgement expected by theclient 102 on the appliance's 205 transport layer connection to theclient 102. In some embodiments, the packet checksum of the transportlayer protocol is recalculated to account for these translations.

In another embodiment, the appliance 205 provides switching orload-balancing functionality for communications between the client 102and server 106. In some embodiments, the appliance 205 distributestraffic and directs client requests to a server 106 based on layer 4payload or application-layer request data. In one embodiment, althoughthe network layer or layer 2 of the network packet identifies adestination server 106, the appliance 205 determines the server 106 todistribute the network packet by application information and datacarried as payload of the transport layer packet. In one embodiment, ahealth monitoring program of the appliance 205 monitors the health ofservers to determine the server 106 for which to distribute a client'srequest. In some embodiments, if the appliance 205 detects a server 106is not available or has a load over a predetermined threshold, theappliance 205 can direct or distribute client requests to another server106.

In some embodiments, the appliance 205 acts as a Domain Name Service(DNS) resolver or otherwise provides resolution of a DNS request fromclients 102. In some embodiments, the appliance 205 intercepts a DNSrequest transmitted by the client 102. In one embodiment, the appliance205 responds to a DNS request from a client with an IP address of orhosted by the appliance 205. In this embodiment, the client 102transmits network communication for the domain name to the appliance200. In another embodiment, the appliance 200 responds to a client's DNSrequest with an IP address of or hosted by a second appliance 200′. Insome embodiments, the appliance 205 responds to a client's DNS requestwith an IP address of a server 106 determined by the appliance 200.

In yet another embodiment, the appliance 205 provides applicationfirewall functionality for communications between the client 102 andserver 106. In one embodiment, a policy engine 295′ provides rules fordetecting and blocking illegitimate requests. In some embodiments, theapplication firewall protects against denial of service (DoS) attacks.In other embodiments, the appliance inspects the content of interceptedrequests to identify and block application-based attacks. In someembodiments, the rules/policy engine includes one or more applicationfirewall or security control policies for providing protections againstvarious classes and types of web or Internet based vulnerabilities, suchas one or more of the following: 1) buffer overflow, 2) CGI-BINparameter manipulation, 3) form/hidden field manipulation, 4) forcefulbrowsing, 5) cookie or session poisoning, 6) broken access control list(ACLs) or weak passwords, 7) cross-site scripting (XSS), 8) commandinjection, 9) SQL injection, 10) error triggering sensitive informationleak, 11) insecure use of cryptography, 12) server misconfiguration, 13)back doors and debug options, 14) website defacement, 15) platform oroperating systems vulnerabilities, and 16) zero-day exploits. In anembodiment, the application firewall of the appliance provides HTML formfield protection in the form of inspecting or analyzing the networkcommunication for one or more of the following: 1) required fields arereturned, 2) no added field allowed, 3) read-only and hidden fieldenforcement, 4) drop-down list and radio button field conformance, and5) form-field max-length enforcement. In some embodiments, theapplication firewall of the appliance 205 ensures cookies are notmodified. In other embodiments, the appliance 205 protects againstforceful browsing by enforcing legal URLs.

In still yet other embodiments, the application firewall appliance 205protects any confidential information contained in the networkcommunication. The appliance 205 may inspect or analyze any networkcommunication in accordance with the rules or polices of the policyengine to identify any confidential information in any field of thenetwork packet. In some embodiments, the application firewall identifiesin the network communication one or more occurrences of a credit cardnumber, password, social security number, name, patient code, contactinformation, and age. The encoded portion of the network communicationmay include these occurrences or the confidential information. Based onthese occurrences, in one embodiment, the application firewall may takea policy action on the network communication, such as preventtransmission of the network communication. In another embodiment, theapplication firewall may rewrite, remove or otherwise mask suchidentified occurrence or confidential information.

Although generally referred to as a network optimization or firstappliance 200 and a second appliance 205, the first appliance 200 andsecond appliance 205 may be the same type and form of appliance. In oneembodiment, the second appliance 205 may perform the same functionality,or portion thereof, as the first appliance 200, and vice-versa. Forexample, the first appliance 200 and second appliance 205 may bothprovide acceleration techniques. In one embodiment, the first appliancemay perform LAN acceleration while the second appliance performs WANacceleration, or vice-versa. In another example, the first appliance 200may also be a transport control protocol terminating device as with thesecond appliance 205. Furthermore, although appliances 200 and 205 areshown as separate devices on the network, the appliance 200 and/or 205could be a part of any client 102 or server 106.

Referring now to FIG. 1H, a block diagram depicts other embodiments of anetwork environment for deploying the appliance 200. In one embodiment,as depicted on the top of FIG. 1H, the appliance 200 may be deployed asa single appliance or single proxy on the network 104. For example, theappliance 200 may be designed, constructed or adapted to perform WANoptimization techniques discussed herein without a second cooperatingappliance 200′. In another embodiment, as depicted on the bottom of FIG.1H, a single appliance 200 may be deployed with one or more secondappliances 205. For example, a WAN acceleration first appliance 200,such as a Citrix WANScaler appliance, may be deployed with a LANaccelerating or application firewall second appliance 205, such as aCitrix NETSCALER appliance.

Referring now to FIG. 1I, a block diagram depicts further embodiments ofa network environment for deploying the appliance 200 and the appliance205. In some embodiments, as depicted in the first row of FIG. 1L, afirst appliance 200 resides on a network 104′ on which a client 102resides and a second appliance 200′ resides on a network 104′″ on whicha server 106 resides. In one of these embodiments, the first appliance200 and the second appliance 200′ are separated by a third network, suchas a Wide Area Network. In other embodiments, as depicted in the secondrow of FIG. 1I, a first appliance 205 resides on a network 104′ on whicha client 102 resides and a second appliance 205′ resides on a network104′″ on which a server 106 resides. In one of these embodiments, thefirst appliance 205 and the second appliance 205′ are separated by athird network 104″, such as a Wide Area Network. In still otherembodiments, as depicted in the third row of FIG. 1I, a first appliance200 and a first appliance 205 reside on a first network 104′ on which aclient 102 resides; a second appliance 200′ and a second appliance 205′reside on a second network 104″. In one of these embodiments, the firstnetwork 104′ and the second network 104′″ are separated by a thirdnetwork 104″. In further embodiments, the first appliance 200 and thefirst appliance 205 are symmetrical devices that are deployed as a pair.In one of these embodiments, the appliance 205 on a network 104′″resides between the appliance 200′ and a machine in the network 104″.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem environment and architecture of an appliance 200 for deliveringand/or operating a computing environment on a client. In someembodiments, a server 106 includes an application delivery system 290for delivering a resource 215—such as a computing environment, anapplication, a data file, or other resource—to one or more clients 102.In brief overview, a client 102 is in communication with a server 106via network 104 and appliance 200. For example, the client 102 mayreside in a remote office of a company, e.g., a branch office, and theserver 106 may reside at a corporate data center. The client 102 has aclient agent 120, and a computing environment 215. The computingenvironment 215 may execute or operate an application that accesses,processes or uses a data file. The resource 215 may be delivered via theappliance 200 and/or the server 106.

In one embodiment, a resource 215 comprises a program, an application, adocument, a file, a plurality of applications, a plurality of files, anexecutable program file, a desktop environment, a computing environment,or other resource made available to a user of the local machine 102. Theresource 215 may be delivered to the local machine 102 via a pluralityof access methods including, but not limited to, conventionalinstallation directly on the local machine 102, delivery to the localmachine 102 via a method for application streaming, delivery to thelocal machine 102 of output data generated by an execution of theresource 215 on a third machine 106′ and communicated to the localmachine 102 via a presentation layer protocol, delivery to the localmachine 102 of output data generated by an execution of the resource 215via a virtual machine executing on a remote machine 106, execution froma removable storage device connected to the local machine 102, such as aUSB device, or via a virtual machine executing on the local machine 102and generating output data. In some embodiments, the local machine 102transmits output data generated by the execution of the resource 215 toanother client machine 102′.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, and in greater detail, in some embodiments theappliance 200 accelerates delivery of a resource 215, or any portionthereof, to a client 102. In one embodiment, the appliance 200accelerates the delivery of the resource 215 by the application deliverysystem 290. For example, the embodiments described herein may be used toaccelerate delivery of a streamed application and/or data filesprocessable by the streamed application from a central corporate datacenter to a remote user location, such as a branch office of thecompany. In another example, the embodiments described herein may beused to accelerate delivery of a virtual machine image, which may be theresource 215 or which may be executed to provide access to the resource215. In another embodiment, the appliance 200 accelerates transportlayer traffic between a client 102 and a server 106. In still anotherembodiment, the appliance 200 controls, manages, or adjusts thetransport layer protocol to accelerate delivery of the computingenvironment. In yet another embodiment, the appliance 200 uses cachingand/or compression techniques to accelerate delivery of a computingenvironment.

In some embodiments, the application delivery management system 290provides application delivery techniques to deliver a computingenvironment to a desktop of a user, remote or otherwise, based on aplurality of execution methods and based on any authentication andauthorization policies applied via a policy engine 295. With thesetechniques, a remote user may obtain a computing environment and accessto server stored applications and data files from any network connecteddevice 100. In one embodiment, the application delivery system 290 mayreside or execute on a server 106. In another embodiment, theapplication delivery system 290 may reside or execute on a plurality ofservers 106 a-106 n. In some embodiments, the application deliverysystem 290 may execute in a server farm 38. In one embodiment, theserver 106 executing the application delivery system 290 may also storeor provide the application and data file. In another embodiment, a firstset of one or more servers 106 may execute the application deliverysystem 290, and a different server 106 n may store or provide theapplication and data file. In some embodiments, each of the applicationdelivery system 290, the application, and data file may reside or belocated on different servers. In yet another embodiment, any portion ofthe application delivery system 290 may reside, execute or be stored onor distributed to the appliance 200, or a plurality of appliances.

The client 102 may include a resource 215 such as a computingenvironment for executing an application that uses or processes a datafile. The client 102 via networks 104, 104′ and appliance 200 mayrequest an application and data file from the server 106. In oneembodiment, the appliance 200 may forward a request from the client 102to the server 106. For example, the client 102 may not have theapplication and data file stored or accessible locally. In response tothe request, the application delivery system 290 and/or server 106 maydeliver the application and data file to the client 102. For example, inone embodiment, the server 106 may transmit the application as anapplication stream to operate in an environment provided by a resource215 on client 102.

In some embodiments, the application delivery system 290 comprises anyportion of the CITRIX ACCESS SUITE by Citrix Systems, Inc., such as theMetaFrame or CITRIX PRESENTATION SERVER, CITRIX XEN APPLICATION server,CITRIX XEN SERVER, and/or any of the MICROSOFT Windows Terminal Servicesmanufactured by the Microsoft Corporation. In one embodiment, theapplication delivery system 290 may deliver one or more resources toclients 102 or users via a remote-display protocol or otherwise viaremote-based or server-based computing. In another embodiment, theapplication delivery system 290 may deliver one or more resources toclients or users via steaming of the resources.

In one embodiment, the application delivery system 290 includes a policyengine 295 for controlling and managing the access to, selection ofapplication execution methods and the delivery of applications. In someembodiments, the policy engine 295 determines the one or moreapplications a user or client 102 may access. In another embodiment, thepolicy engine 295 determines how the application should be delivered tothe user or client 102, e.g., the method of execution. In someembodiments, the application delivery system 290 provides a plurality ofdelivery techniques from which to select a method of applicationexecution, such as a server-based computing, streaming or delivering theapplication locally to the client 120 for local execution.

In one embodiment, a client 102 requests execution of an applicationprogram and the application delivery system 290 comprising a server 106selects a method of executing the application program. In someembodiments, the server 106 receives credentials from the client 102. Inanother embodiment, the server 106 receives a request for an enumerationof available applications from the client 102. In one embodiment, inresponse to the request or receipt of credentials, the applicationdelivery system 290 enumerates a plurality of application programsavailable to the client 102. The application delivery system 290receives a request to execute an enumerated application. The applicationdelivery system 290 selects one of a predetermined number of methods forexecuting the enumerated application, for example, responsive to apolicy of a policy engine. The application delivery system 290 mayselect a method of execution of the application enabling the client 102to receive application-output data generated by execution of theapplication program on a server 106. The application delivery system 290may select a method of execution of the application enabling the clientor local machine 102 to execute the application program locally afterretrieving a plurality of application files comprising the application.In yet another embodiment, the application delivery system 290 mayselect a method of execution of the application to stream theapplication via the network 104 to the client 102.

A client 102 may execute, operate or otherwise provide an application,which can be any type and/or form of software, program, or executableinstructions such as any type and/or form of web browser, web-basedclient, client-server application, a thin-client computing client, anActiveX control, or a Java applet, or any other type and/or form ofexecutable instructions capable of executing on client 102. In someembodiments, the application may be a server-based or a remote-basedapplication executed on behalf of the client 102 on a server 106. In oneembodiment the server 106 may display output to the client 102 using anythin-client or remote-display protocol, such as the IndependentComputing Architecture (ICA) protocol manufactured by Citrix Systems,Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. or the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Theapplication can use any type of protocol and it can be, for example, anHTTP client, an FTP client, an Oscar client, or a Telnet client. Inother embodiments, the application comprises any type of softwarerelated to VoIP communications, such as a soft IP telephone. In furtherembodiments, the application comprises any application related toreal-time data communications, such as applications for streaming videoand/or audio.

In some embodiments, the server 106 or a server farm 38 may be runningone or more applications, such as an application providing a thin-clientcomputing or remote display presentation application. In one embodiment,the server 106 or server farm 38 executes as an application, any portionof the Citrix ACCESS SUITE by Citrix Systems, Inc., such as theMETAFRAME or Citrix PRESENTATION SERVER or XENAPP, XENSERVER and/or anyof the MICROSOFT Windows Terminal Services manufactured by the MicrosoftCorporation. In one embodiment, the application is an independentcomputing architecture (ICA) client, developed by Citrix Systems, Inc.of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In other embodiments, the application includesa Remote Desktop (RDP) client, developed by Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash. Also, the server 106 may run an application, which forexample, may be an application server providing email services such asMicrosoft Exchange manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,Wash., a web or Internet server, or a desktop sharing server, or acollaboration server. In some embodiments, any of the applications maycomprise any type of hosted service or products, such as GOTOMEETINGprovided by Citrix Online Division, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., WEBEXprovided by WebEx, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., or Microsoft Office LiveMeeting provided by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

FIG. 2A also illustrates an example embodiment of the appliance 200. Thearchitecture of the appliance 200 in FIG. 2A is provided by way ofillustration only and is not intended to be limiting in any manner. Theappliance 200 may include any type and form of computing device 100,such as any element or portion described in conjunction with FIGS. 1Fand 1G above. In brief overview, the appliance 200 has one or morenetwork ports 266A-226N and one or more networks stacks 267A-267N forreceiving and/or transmitting communications via networks 104. Theappliance 200 also has a network optimization engine 250 for optimizing,accelerating or otherwise improving the performance, operation, orquality of any network traffic or communications traversing theappliance 200.

The appliance 200 includes or is under the control of an operatingsystem. The operating system of the appliance 200 may be any type and/orform of Unix operating system although the invention is not so limited.As such, the appliance 200 can be running any operating system such asany of the versions of the MICROSOFT Windows operating systems, thedifferent releases of the Unix and Linux operating systems, any versionof the MAC OS for Macintosh computers, any embedded operating system,any network operating system, any real-time operating system, any opensource operating system, any proprietary operating system, any operatingsystems for mobile computing devices or network devices, or any otheroperating system capable of running on the appliance 200 and performingthe operations described herein.

The operating system of appliance 200 allocates, manages, or otherwisesegregates the available system memory into what is referred to askernel or system space, and user or application space. The kernel spaceis typically reserved for running the kernel, including any devicedrivers, kernel extensions or other kernel related software. As known tothose skilled in the art, the kernel is the core of the operatingsystem, and provides access, control, and management of resources andhardware-related elements of the appliance 200. In accordance with anembodiment of the appliance 200, the kernel space also includes a numberof network services or processes working in conjunction with the networkoptimization engine 250, or any portion thereof. Additionally, theembodiment of the kernel will depend on the embodiment of the operatingsystem installed, configured, or otherwise used by the device 200. Incontrast to kernel space, user space is the memory area or portion ofthe operating system used by user mode applications or programsotherwise running in user mode. A user mode application may not accesskernel space directly and uses service calls in order to access kernelservices. The operating system uses the user or application space forexecuting or running applications and provisioning of user levelprograms, services, processes and/or tasks.

The appliance 200 has one or more network ports 266 for transmitting andreceiving data over a network 104. The network port 266 provides aphysical and/or logical interface between the computing device and anetwork 104 or another device 100 for transmitting and receiving networkcommunications. The type and form of network port 266 depends on thetype and form of network and type of medium for connecting to thenetwork. Furthermore, any software of, provisioned for or used by thenetwork port 266 and network stack 267 may run in either kernel space oruser space.

In one embodiment, the appliance 200 has one network stack 267, such asa TCP/IP based stack, for communicating on a network 105, such with theclient 102 and/or the server 106. In one embodiment, the network stack267 is used to communicate with a first network, such as network 104,and also with a second network 104′. In another embodiment, theappliance 200 has two or more network stacks, such as first networkstack 267A and a second network stack 267N. The first network stack 267Amay be used in conjunction with a first port 266A to communicate on afirst network 104. The second network stack 267N may be used inconjunction with a second port 266N to communicate on a second network104′. In one embodiment, the network stack(s) 267 has one or morebuffers for queuing one or more network packets for transmission by theappliance 200.

The network stack 267 includes any type and form of software, orhardware, or any combinations thereof, for providing connectivity to andcommunications with a network. In one embodiment, the network stack 267includes a software implementation for a network protocol suite. Thenetwork stack 267 may have one or more network layers, such as anynetworks layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communicationsmodel as those skilled in the art recognize and appreciate. As such, thenetwork stack 267 may have any type and form of protocols for any of thefollowing layers of the OSI model: 1) physical link layer, 2) data linklayer, 3) network layer, 4) transport layer, 5) session layer, 6)presentation layer, and 7) application layer. In one embodiment, thenetwork stack 267 includes a transport control protocol (TCP) over thenetwork layer protocol of the Internet protocol (IP), generally referredto as TCP/IP. In some embodiments, the TCP/IP protocol may be carriedover the Ethernet protocol, which may comprise any of the family of IEEEwide-area-network (WAN) or local-area-network (LAN) protocols, such asthose protocols covered by the IEEE 802.3. In some embodiments, thenetwork stack 267 has any type and form of a wireless protocol, such asIEEE 802.11 and/or mobile Internet protocol.

In view of a TCP/IP based network, any TCP/IP based protocol may beused, including Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)(email), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol(HTTP), Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol (file transfer),Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol, Remote DesktopProtocol (RDP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Mobile IP protocol,and Voice Over IP (VoIP) protocol. In another embodiment, the networkstack 267 comprises any type and form of transport control protocol,such as a modified transport control protocol, for example a TransactionTCP (T/TCP), TCP with selection acknowledgements (TCP-SACK), TCP withlarge windows (TCP-LW), a congestion prediction protocol such as theTCP-Vegas protocol, and a TCP spoofing protocol. In other embodiments,any type and form of user datagram protocol (UDP), such as UDP over IP,may be used by the network stack 267, such as for voice communicationsor real-time data communications.

Furthermore, the network stack 267 may include one or more networkdrivers supporting the one or more layers, such as a TCP driver or anetwork layer driver. The network drivers may be included as part of theoperating system of the computing device 100 or as part of any networkinterface cards or other network access components of the computingdevice 100. In some embodiments, any of the network drivers of thenetwork stack 267 may be customized, modified or adapted to provide acustom or modified portion of the network stack 267 in support of any ofthe techniques described herein.

In one embodiment, the appliance 200 provides for or maintains atransport layer connection between a client 102 and server 106 using asingle network stack 267. In some embodiments, the appliance 200effectively terminates the transport layer connection by changing,managing or controlling the behavior of the transport control protocolconnection between the client and the server. In these embodiments, theappliance 200 may use a single network stack 267. In other embodiments,the appliance 200 terminates a first transport layer connection, such asa TCP connection of a client 102, and establishes a second transportlayer connection to a server 106 for use by or on behalf of the client102, e.g., the second transport layer connection is terminated at theappliance 200 and the server 106. The first and second transport layerconnections may be established via a single network stack 267. In otherembodiments, the appliance 200 may use multiple network stacks, forexample 267A and 267N. In these embodiments, the first transport layerconnection may be established or terminated at one network stack 267A,and the second transport layer connection may be established orterminated on the second network stack 267N. For example, one networkstack may be for receiving and transmitting network packets on a firstnetwork, and another network stack for receiving and transmittingnetwork packets on a second network.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the network optimization engine 250 includes one ormore of the following elements, components or modules: network packetprocessing engine 240, LAN/WAN detector 210, flow controller 220, QoSengine 236, protocol accelerator 234, compression engine 238, cachemanager 232 and policy engine 295′. The network optimization engine 250,or any portion thereof, may include software, hardware or anycombination of software and hardware. Furthermore, any software of,provisioned for or used by the network optimization engine 250 may runin either kernel space or user space. For example, in one embodiment,the network optimization engine 250 may run in kernel space. In anotherembodiment, the network optimization engine 250 may run in user space.In yet another embodiment, a first portion of the network optimizationengine 250 runs in kernel space while a second portion of the networkoptimization engine 250 runs in user space.

The network packet engine 240, also generally referred to as a packetprocessing engine or packet engine, is responsible for controlling andmanaging the processing of packets received and transmitted by appliance200 via network ports 266 and network stack(s) 267. The network packetengine 240 may operate at any layer of the network stack 267. In oneembodiment, the network packet engine 240 operates at layer 2 or layer 3of the network stack 267. In some embodiments, the packet engine 240intercepts or otherwise receives packets at the network layer, such asthe IP layer in a TCP/IP embodiment. In another embodiment, the packetengine 240 operates at layer 4 of the network stack 267. For example, insome embodiments, the packet engine 240 intercepts or otherwise receivespackets at the transport layer, such as intercepting packets as the TCPlayer in a TCP/IP embodiment. In other embodiments, the packet engine240 operates at any session or application layer above layer 4. Forexample, in one embodiment, the packet engine 240 intercepts orotherwise receives network packets above the transport layer protocollayer, such as the payload of a TCP packet in a TCP embodiment.

The packet engine 240 may include a buffer for queuing one or morenetwork packets during processing, such as for receipt of a networkpacket or transmission of a network packet. Additionally, the packetengine 240 is in communication with one or more network stacks 267 tosend and receive network packets via network ports 266. The packetengine 240 may include a packet processing timer. In one embodiment, thepacket processing timer provides one or more time intervals to triggerthe processing of incoming, i.e., received, or outgoing, i.e.,transmitted, network packets. In some embodiments, the packet engine 240processes network packets responsive to the timer. The packet processingtimer provides any type and form of signal to the packet engine 240 tonotify, trigger, or communicate a time related event, interval oroccurrence. In many embodiments, the packet processing timer operates inthe order of milliseconds, such as for example 100 ms, 50 ms, 25 ms, 10ms, 5 ms or 1 ms.

During operations, the packet engine 240 may be interfaced, integratedor be in communication with any portion of the network optimizationengine 250, such as the LAN/WAN detector 210, flow controller 220, QoSengine 236, protocol accelerator 234, compression engine 238, cachemanager 232 and/or policy engine 295′. As such, any of the logic,functions, or operations of the LAN/WAN detector 210, flow controller220, QoS engine 236, protocol accelerator 234, compression engine 238,cache manager 232 and policy engine 295′ may be performed responsive tothe packet processing timer and/or the packet engine 240. In someembodiments, any of the logic, functions, or operations of theencryption engine 234, cache manager 232, policy engine 236 andmulti-protocol compression logic 238 may be performed at the granularityof time intervals provided via the packet processing timer, for example,at a time interval of less than or equal to 10 ms. For example, in oneembodiment, the cache manager 232 may perform expiration of any cachedobjects responsive to the integrated packet engine 240 and/or the packetprocessing timer 242. In another embodiment, the expiry or invalidationtime of a cached object can be set to the same order of granularity asthe time interval of the packet processing timer, such as at every 10ms.

The cache manager 232 may include software, hardware or any combinationof software and hardware to store data, information and objects to acache in memory or storage, provide cache access, and control and managethe cache. The data, objects or content processed and stored by thecache manager 232 may include data in any format, such as a markuplanguage, or any type of data communicated via any protocol. In someembodiments, the cache manager 232 duplicates original data storedelsewhere or data previously computed, generated or transmitted, inwhich the original data may require longer access time to fetch, computeor otherwise obtain relative to reading a cache memory or storageelement. Once the data is stored in the cache, future use can be made byaccessing the cached copy rather than refetching or recomputing theoriginal data, thereby reducing the access time. In some embodiments,the cache may comprise a data object in memory of the appliance 200. Inanother embodiment, the cache may comprise any type and form of storageelement of the appliance 200, such as a portion of a hard disk. In someembodiments, the processing unit of the device may provide cache memoryfor use by the cache manager 232. In yet further embodiments, the cachemanager 232 may use any portion and combination of memory, storage, orthe processing unit for caching data, objects, and other content.

Furthermore, the cache manager 232 includes any logic, functions, rules,or operations to perform any caching techniques of the appliance 200. Insome embodiments, the cache manager 232 may operate as an application,library, program, service, process, thread or task. In some embodiments,the cache manager 232 can comprise any type of general purpose processor(GPP), or any other type of integrated circuit, such as a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA), Programmable Logic Device (PLD), orApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

The policy engine 295′ includes any logic, function or operations forproviding and applying one or more policies or rules to the function,operation or configuration of any portion of the appliance 200. Thepolicy engine 295′ may include, for example, an intelligent statisticalengine or other programmable application(s). In one embodiment, thepolicy engine 295 provides a configuration mechanism to allow a user toidentify, specify, define or configure a policy for the networkoptimization engine 250, or any portion thereof. For example, the policyengine 295 may provide policies for what data to cache, when to cachethe data, for whom to cache the data, when to expire an object in cacheor refresh the cache. In other embodiments, the policy engine 236 mayinclude any logic, rules, functions or operations to determine andprovide access, control and management of objects, data or content beingcached by the appliance 200 in addition to access, control andmanagement of security, network traffic, network access, compression orany other function or operation performed by the appliance 200.

In some embodiments, the policy engine 295′ provides and applies one ormore policies based on any one or more of the following: a user,identification of the client, identification of the server, the type ofconnection, the time of the connection, the type of network, or thecontents of the network traffic. In one embodiment, the policy engine295′ provides and applies a policy based on any field or header at anyprotocol layer of a network packet. In another embodiment, the policyengine 295′ provides and applies a policy based on any payload of anetwork packet. For example, in one embodiment, the policy engine 295′applies a policy based on identifying a certain portion of content of anapplication layer protocol carried as a payload of a transport layerpacket. In another example, the policy engine 295′ applies a policybased on any information identified by a client, server or usercertificate. In yet another embodiment, the policy engine 295′ applies apolicy based on any attributes or characteristics obtained about aclient 102, such as via any type and form of endpoint detection (see forexample the collection agent of the client agent discussed below).

In one embodiment, the policy engine 295′ works in conjunction orcooperation with the policy engine 295 of the application deliverysystem 290. In some embodiments, the policy engine 295′ is a distributedportion of the policy engine 295 of the application delivery system 290.In another embodiment, the policy engine 295 of the application deliverysystem 290 is deployed on or executed on the appliance 200. In someembodiments, the policy engines 295, 295′ both operate on the appliance200. In yet another embodiment, the policy engine 295′, or a portionthereof, of the appliance 200 operates on a server 106.

The compression engine 238 includes any logic, business rules, functionor operations for compressing one or more protocols of a network packet,such as any of the protocols used by the network stack 267 of theappliance 200. The compression engine 238 may also be referred to as amulti-protocol compression engine 238 in that it may be designed,constructed or capable of compressing a plurality of protocols. In oneembodiment, the compression engine 238 applies context insensitivecompression, which is compression applied to data without knowledge ofthe type of data. In another embodiment, the compression engine 238applies context-sensitive compression. In this embodiment, thecompression engine 238 utilizes knowledge of the data type to select aspecific compression algorithm from a suite of suitable algorithms. Insome embodiments, knowledge of the specific protocol is used to performcontext-sensitive compression. In one embodiment, the appliance 200 orcompression engine 238 can use port numbers (e.g., well-known ports), aswell as data from the connection itself to determine the appropriatecompression algorithm to use. Some protocols use only a single type ofdata, requiring only a single compression algorithm that can be selectedwhen the connection is established. Other protocols contain differenttypes of data at different times. For example, POP, IMAP, SMTP, and HTTPall move files of arbitrary types interspersed with other protocol data.

In one embodiment, the compression engine 238 uses a delta-typecompression algorithm. In another embodiment, the compression engine 238uses first site compression as well as searching for repeated patternsamong data stored in cache, memory or disk. In some embodiments, thecompression engine 238 uses a lossless compression algorithm. In otherembodiments, the compression engine uses a lossy compression algorithm.In some cases, knowledge of the data type and, sometimes, permissionfrom the user are required to use a lossy compression algorithm.Compression is not limited to the protocol payload. The control fieldsof the protocol itself may be compressed. In some embodiments, thecompression engine 238 uses a different algorithm than that used for thepayload.

In some embodiments, the compression engine 238 compresses at one ormore layers of the network stack 267. In one embodiment, the compressionengine 238 compresses at a transport layer protocol. In anotherembodiment, the compression engine 238 compresses at an applicationlayer protocol. In some embodiments, the compression engine 238compresses at a layer 2-4 protocol. In other embodiments, thecompression engine 238 compresses at a layer 5-7 protocol. In yetanother embodiment, the compression engine compresses a transport layerprotocol and an application layer protocol. In some embodiments, thecompression engine 238 compresses a layer 2-4 protocol and a layer 5-7protocol.

In some embodiments, the compression engine 238 uses memory-basedcompression, cache-based compression or disk-based compression or anycombination thereof. As such, the compression engine 238 may be referredto as a multi-layer compression engine. In one embodiment, thecompression engine 238 uses a history of data stored in memory, such asRAM. In another embodiment, the compression engine 238 uses a history ofdata stored in a cache, such as L2 cache of the processor. In otherembodiments, the compression engine 238 uses a history of data stored toa disk or storage location. In some embodiments, the compression engine238 uses a hierarchy of cache-based, memory-based and disk-based datahistory. The compression engine 238 may first use the cache-based datato determine one or more data matches for compression, and then maycheck the memory-based data to determine one or more data matches forcompression. In another case, the compression engine 238 may check diskstorage for data matches for compression after checking either thecache-based and/or memory-based data history.

In one embodiment, multi-protocol compression engine 238 compressesbi-directionally between clients 102 a-102 n and servers 106 a-106 n anyTCP/IP based protocol, including Messaging Application ProgrammingInterface (MAPI) (email), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), HyperTextTransfer Protocol (HTTP), Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol(file transfer), Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol,Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP),Mobile IP protocol, and Voice Over IP (VoIP) protocol. In otherembodiments, multi-protocol compression engine 238 provides compressionof HyperText Markup Language (HTML) based protocols and in someembodiments, provides compression of any markup languages, such as theExtensible Markup Language (XML). In one embodiment, the multi-protocolcompression engine 238 provides compression of any high-performanceprotocol, such as any protocol designed for appliance 200 to appliance200 communications. In another embodiment, the multi-protocolcompression engine 238 compresses any payload of or any communicationusing a modified transport control protocol, such as Transaction TCP(T/TCP), TCP with selection acknowledgements (TCP-SACK), TCP with largewindows (TCP-LW), a congestion prediction protocol such as the TCP-Vegasprotocol, and a TCP spoofing protocol.

As such, the multi-protocol compression engine 238 acceleratesperformance for users accessing applications via desktop clients, e.g.,Microsoft Outlook and non-Web thin clients, such as any client launchedby popular enterprise applications like Oracle, SAP and Siebel, and evenmobile clients, such as the Pocket PC. In some embodiments, themulti-protocol compression engine by integrating with packet processingengine 240 accessing the network stack 267 is able to compress any ofthe protocols carried by a transport layer protocol, such as anyapplication layer protocol.

The LAN/WAN detector 238 includes any logic, business rules, function oroperations for automatically detecting a slow side connection (e.g., awide area network (WAN) connection such as an Intranet) and associatedport 267, and a fast side connection (e.g., a local area network (LAN)connection) and an associated port 267. In some embodiments, the LAN/WANdetector 238 monitors network traffic on the network ports 267 of theappliance 200 to detect a synchronization packet, sometimes referred toas a “tagged” network packet. The synchronization packet identifies atype or speed of the network traffic. In one embodiment, thesynchronization packet identifies a WAN speed or WAN type connection.The LAN/WAN detector 238 also identifies receipt of an acknowledgementpacket to a tagged synchronization packet and on which port it isreceived. The appliance 200 then configures itself to operate theidentified port on which the tagged synchronization packet arrived sothat the speed on that port is set to be the speed associated with thenetwork connected to that port. The other port is then set to the speedassociated with the network connected to that port.

For ease of discussion herein, reference to “fast” side will be madewith respect to connection with a wide area network (WAN), e.g., theInternet, and operating at a network speed of the WAN. Likewise,reference to “slow” side will be made with respect to connection with alocal area network (LAN) and operating at a network speed the LAN.However, it is noted that “fast” and “slow” sides in a network canchange on a per-connection basis and are relative terms to the speed ofthe network connections or to the type of network topology. Suchconfigurations are useful in complex network topologies, where a networkis “fast” or “slow” only when compared to adjacent networks and not inany absolute sense.

In one embodiment, the LAN/WAN detector 238 may be used to allow forauto-discovery by an appliance 200 of a network to which it connects. Inanother embodiment, the LAN/WAN detector 238 may be used to detect theexistence or presence of a second appliance 200′ deployed in the network104. For example, an auto-discovery mechanism in operation in accordancewith FIG. 1A functions as follows: appliance 200 and 200′ are placed inline with the connection linking client 102 and server 106. Theappliances 200 and 200′ are at the ends of a low-speed link, e.g.,Internet, connecting two LANs. In one example embodiment, appliances 200and 200′ each include two ports—one to connect with the “lower” speedlink and the other to connect with a “higher” speed link, e.g., a LAN.Any packet arriving at one port is copied to the other port. Thus,appliance 200 and 200′ are each configured to function as a bridgebetween the two networks 104.

When an end node, such as the client 102, opens a new TCP connectionwith another end node, such as the server 106, the client 102 sends aTCP packet with a synchronization (SYN) header bit set, or a SYN packet,to the server 106. In the present example, client 102 opens a transportlayer connection to server 106. When the SYN packet passes throughappliance 200, the appliance 200 inserts, attaches or otherwise providesa characteristic TCP header option to the packet, which announces itspresence. If the packet passes through a second appliance, in thisexample appliance 200′ the second appliance notes the header option onthe SYN packet. The server 106 responds to the SYN packet with asynchronization acknowledgment (SYN-ACK) packet. When the SYN-ACK packetpasses through appliance 200′, a TCP header option is tagged (e.g.,attached, inserted or added) to the SYN-ACK packet to announce appliance200′ presence to appliance 200. When appliance 200 receives this packet,both appliances 200, 200′ are now aware of each other and the connectioncan be appropriately accelerated.

Further to the operations of the LAN/WAN detector 238, a method orprocess for detecting “fast” and “slow” sides of a network using a SYNpacket is described. During a transport layer connection establishmentbetween a client 102 and a server 106, the appliance 200 via the LAN/WANdetector 238 determines whether the SYN packet is tagged with anacknowledgement (ACK). If it is tagged, the appliance 200 identifies orconfigures the port receiving the tagged SYN packet (SYN-ACK) as the“slow” side. In one embodiment, the appliance 200 optionally removes theACK tag from the packet before copying the packet to the other port. Ifthe LAN/WAN detector 238 determines that the packet is not tagged, theappliance 200 identifies or configures the port receiving the untaggedpacket as the “fast” side. The appliance 200 then tags the SYN packetwith an ACK and copies the packet to the other port.

In another embodiment, the LAN/WAN detector 238 detects fast and slowsides of a network using a SYN-ACK packet. The appliance 200 via theLAN/WAN detector 238 determines whether the SYN-ACK packet is taggedwith an acknowledgement (ACK). If it is tagged, the appliance 200identifies or configures the port receiving the tagged SYN packet(SYN-ACK) as the “slow” side. In one embodiment, the appliance 200optionally removes the ACK tag from the packet before copying the packetto the other port. If the LAN/WAN detector 238 determines that thepacket is not tagged, the appliance 200 identifies or configures theport receiving the untagged packet as the “fast” side. The LAN/WANdetector 238 determines whether the SYN packet was tagged. If the SYNpacket was not tagged, the appliance 200 copied the packet to the otherport. If the SYN packet was tagged, the appliance tags the SYN-ACKpacket before copying it to the other port.

The appliance 200, 200′ may add, insert, modify, attach or otherwiseprovide any information or data in the TCP option header to provide anyinformation, data or characteristics about the network connection,network traffic flow, or the configuration or operation of the appliance200. In this manner, not only does an appliance 200 announce itspresence to another appliance 200′ or tag a higher or lower speedconnection, the appliance 200 provides additional information and datavia the TCP option headers about the appliance or the connection. TheTCP option header information may be useful to or used by an appliancein controlling, managing, optimizing, acceleration or improving thenetwork traffic flow traversing the appliance 200, or to otherwiseconfigure itself or operation of a network port.

Although generally described in conjunction with detecting speeds ofnetwork connections or the presence of appliances, the LAN/WAN detector238 can be used for applying any type of function, logic or operation ofthe appliance 200 to a port, connection or flow of network traffic. Inparticular, automated assignment of ports can occur whenever a deviceperforms different functions on different ports, where the assignment ofa port to a task can be made during the unit's operation, and/or thenature of the network segment on each port is discoverable by theappliance 200.

The flow controller 220 includes any logic, business rules, function oroperations for optimizing, accelerating or otherwise improving theperformance, operation or quality of service of transport layercommunications of network packets or the delivery of packets at thetransport layer. A flow controller, also sometimes referred to as a flowcontrol module, regulates, manages and controls data transfer rates. Insome embodiments, the flow controller 220 is deployed at or connected ata bandwidth bottleneck in the network 104. In one embodiment, the flowcontroller 220 effectively regulates, manages and controls bandwidthusage or utilization. In other embodiments, the flow control modules mayalso be deployed at points on the network of latency transitions (lowlatency to high latency) and on links with media losses (such aswireless or satellite links).

In some embodiments, a flow controller 220 may include a receiver-sideflow control module for controlling the rate of receipt of networktransmissions and a sender-side flow control module for the controllingthe rate of transmissions of network packets. In other embodiments, afirst flow controller 220 includes a receiver-side flow control moduleand a second flow controller 220′ includes a sender-side flow controlmodule. In some embodiments, a first flow controller 220 is deployed ona first appliance 200 and a second flow controller 220′ is deployed on asecond appliance 200′. As such, in some embodiments, a first appliance200 controls the flow of data on the receiver side and a secondappliance 200′ controls the data flow from the sender side. In yetanother embodiment, a single appliance 200 includes flow control forboth the receiver-side and sender-side of network communicationstraversing the appliance 200.

In one embodiment, a flow control module 220 is configured to allowbandwidth at the bottleneck to be more fully utilized, and in someembodiments, not overutilized. In some embodiments, the flow controlmodule 220 transparently buffers (or rebuffers data already buffered by,for example, the sender) network sessions that pass between nodes havingassociated flow control modules 220. When a session passes through twoor more flow control modules 220, one or more of the flow controlmodules controls a rate of the session(s).

In one embodiment, the flow control module 200 is configured withpredetermined data relating to bottleneck bandwidth. In anotherembodiment, the flow control module 220 may be configured to detect thebottleneck bandwidth or data associated therewith. Unlike conventionalnetwork protocols such as TCP, a receiver-side flow control module 220controls the data transmission rate. The receiver-side flow controlmodule controls 220 the sender-side flow control module, e.g., 220, datatransmission rate by forwarding transmission rate limits to thesender-side flow control module 220. In one embodiment, thereceiver-side flow control module 220 piggybacks these transmission ratelimits on acknowledgement (ACK) packets (or signals) sent to the sender,e.g., client 102, by the receiver, e.g., server 106. The receiver-sideflow control module 220 does this in response to rate control requeststhat are sent by the sender side flow control module 220′. The requestsfrom the sender-side flow control module 220′ may be “piggybacked” ondata packets sent by the sender 106.

In some embodiments, the flow controller 220 manipulates, adjusts,simulates, changes, improves or otherwise adapts the behavior of thetransport layer protocol to provide improved performance or operationsof delivery, data rates and/or bandwidth utilization of the transportlayer. The flow controller 220 may implement a plurality of data flowcontrol techniques at the transport layer, including but not limitedto 1) pre-acknowledgements, 2) window virtualization, 3) recongestiontechniques, 3) local retransmission techniques, 4) wavefront detectionand disambiguation, 5) transport control protocol selectiveacknowledgements, 6) transaction boundary detection techniques and 7)repacketization.

Although a sender may be generally described herein as a client 102 anda receiver as a server 106, a sender may be any end point such as aserver 106 or any computing device 100 on the network 104. Likewise, areceiver may be a client 102 or any other computing device on thenetwork 104.

In brief overview of a pre-acknowledgement flow control technique, theflow controller 220, in some embodiments, handles the acknowledgementsand retransmits for a sender, effectively terminating the sender'sconnection with the downstream portion of a network connection. Inreference to FIG. 1B, one possible deployment of an appliance 200 into anetwork architecture to implement this feature is depicted. In thisexample environment, a sending computer or client 102 transmits data onnetwork 104, for example, via a switch, which determines that the datais destined for VPN appliance 205. Because of the chosen networktopology, all data destined for VPN appliance 205 traverses appliance200, so the appliance 200 can apply any necessary algorithms to thisdata.

Continuing further with the example, the client 102 transmits a packet,which is received by the appliance 200. When the appliance 200 receivesthe packet, which is transmitted from the client 102 to a recipient viathe VPN appliance 205 the appliance 200 retains a copy of the packet andforwards the packet downstream to the VPN appliance 205. The appliance200 then generates an acknowledgement packet (ACK) and sends the ACKpacket back to the client 102 or sending endpoint. This ACK, apre-acknowledgment, causes the sender 102 to believe that the packet hasbeen delivered successfully, freeing the sender's resources forsubsequent processing. The appliance 200 retains the copy of the packetdata in the event that a retransmission of the packet is required, sothat the sender 102 does not have to handle retransmissions of the data.This early generation of acknowledgements may be called “preacking.”

If a retransmission of the packet is required, the appliance 200retransmits the packet to the sender. The appliance 200 may determinewhether retransmission is required as a sender would in a traditionalsystem, for example, determining that a packet is lost if anacknowledgement has not been received for the packet after apredetermined amount of time. To this end, the appliance 200 monitorsacknowledgements generated by the receiving endpoint, e.g., server 106(or any other downstream network entity) so that it can determinewhether the packet has been successfully delivered or needs to beretransmitted. If the appliance 200 determines that the packet has beensuccessfully delivered, the appliance 200 is free to discard the savedpacket data. The appliance 200 may also inhibit forwardingacknowledgements for packets that have already been received by thesending endpoint.

In the embodiment described above, the appliance 200 via the flowcontroller 220 controls the sender 102 through the delivery ofpre-acknowledgements, also referred to as “preacks”, as though theappliance 200 was a receiving endpoint itself. Since the appliance 200is not an endpoint and does not actually consume the data, the appliance200 includes a mechanism for providing overflow control to the sendingendpoint. Without overflow control, the appliance 200 could run out ofmemory because the appliance 200 stores packets that have been preackedto the sending endpoint but not yet acknowledged as received by thereceiving endpoint. Therefore, in a situation in which the sender 102transmits packets to the appliance 200 faster than the appliance 200 canforward the packets downstream, the memory available in the appliance200 to store unacknowledged packet data can quickly fill. A mechanismfor overflow control allows the appliance 200 to control transmission ofthe packets from the sender 102 to avoid this problem.

In one embodiment, the appliance 200 or flow controller 220 includes aninherent “self-clocking” overflow control mechanism. This self-clockingis due to the order in which the appliance 200 may be designed totransmit packets downstream and send ACKs to the sender 102 or 106. Insome embodiments, the appliance 200 does not preack the packet untilafter it transmits the packet downstream. In this way, the sender 102will receive the ACKs at the rate at which the appliance 200 is able totransmit packets rather than the rate at which the appliance 200receives packets from the sender 100. This helps to regulate thetransmission of packets from a sender 102.

Another overflow control mechanism that the appliance 200 may implementis to use the TCP window size parameter, which tells a sender how muchbuffer the receiver is permitting the sender to fill up. A nonzerowindow size (e.g., a size of at least one Maximum Segment Size (MSS)) ina preack permits the sending endpoint to continue to deliver data to theappliance, whereas a zero window size inhibits further datatransmission. Accordingly, the appliance 200 may regulate the flow ofpackets from the sender, for example when the appliance's 200 buffer isbecoming full, by appropriately setting the TCP window size in eachpreack.

Another technique to reduce this additional overhead is to applyhysteresis. When the appliance 200 delivers data to the slower side, theoverflow control mechanism in the appliance 200 can require that aminimum amount of space be available before sending a nonzero windowadvertisement to the sender. In one embodiment, the appliance 200 waitsuntil there is a minimum of a predetermined number of packets, such asfour packets, of space available before sending a nonzero window packet,such as a window size of four packets). This reduces the overhead byapproximately a factor four, since only two ACK packets are sent foreach group of four data packets, instead of eight ACK packets for fourdata packets.

Another technique the appliance 200 or flow controller 220 may use foroverflow control is the TCP delayed ACK mechanism, which skips ACKs toreduce network traffic. The TCP delayed ACKs automatically delay thesending of an ACK, either until two packets are received or until afixed timeout has occurred. This mechanism alone can result in cuttingthe overhead in half; moreover, by increasing the numbers of packetsabove two, additional overhead reduction is realized. But merelydelaying the ACK itself may be insufficient to control overflow, and theappliance 200 may also use the advertised window mechanism on the ACKsto control the sender. When doing this, the appliance 200 in oneembodiment avoids triggering the timeout mechanism of the sender bydelaying the ACK too long.

In one embodiment, the flow controller 220 does not preack the lastpacket of a group of packets. By not preacking the last packet, or atleast one of the packets in the group, the appliance avoids a falseacknowledgement for a group of packets. For example, if the appliancewere to send a preack for a last packet and the packet were subsequentlylost, the sender would have been tricked into thinking that the packetis delivered when it was not. Thinking that the packet had beendelivered, the sender could discard that data. If the appliance alsolost the packet, there would be no way to retransmit the packet to therecipient. By not preacking the last packet of a group of packets, thesender will not discard the packet until it has been delivered.

In another embodiment, the flow controller 220 may use a windowvirtualization technique to control the rate of flow or bandwidthutilization of a network connection. Though it may not immediately beapparent from examining conventional literature such as RFC 1323, thereis effectively a send window for transport layer protocols such as TCP.The send window is similar to the receive window, in that it consumesbuffer space (though on the sender). The sender's send window consistsof all data sent by the application that has not been acknowledged bythe receiver. This data must be retained in memory in caseretransmission is required. Since memory is a shared resource, some TCPstack implementations limit the size of this data. When the send windowis full, an attempt by an application program to send more data resultsin blocking the application program until space is available. Subsequentreception of acknowledgements will free send-window memory and unblockthe application program. In some embodiments, this window size is knownas the socket buffer size in some TCP implementations.

In one embodiment, the flow control module 220 is configured to provideaccess to increased window (or buffer) sizes. This configuration mayalso be referenced to as window virtualization. In the embodiment of TCPas the transport layer protocol, the TCP header includes a bit stringcorresponding to a window scale. In one embodiment, “window” may bereferenced in a context of send, receive, or both.

One embodiment of window virtualization is to insert a preackingappliance 200 into a TCP session. In reference to any of theenvironments of FIG. 1D or 1E, initiation of a data communicationsession between a source node, e.g., client 102 (for ease of discussion,now referenced as source node 102), and a destination node, e.g., server106 (for ease of discussion, now referenced as destination node 106) isestablished. For TCP communications, the source node 102 initiallytransmits a synchronization signal (“SYN”) through its local areanetwork 104 to first flow control module 220. The first flow controlmodule 220 inserts a configuration identifier into the TCP headeroptions area. The configuration identifier identifies this point in thedata path as a flow control module.

The appliances 200 via a flow control module 220 provide window (orbuffer) to allow increasing data buffering capabilities within a sessiondespite having end nodes with small buffer sizes, e.g., typically 16 kbytes. However, RFC 1323 requires window scaling for any buffer sizesgreater than 64 k bytes, which must be set at the time of sessioninitialization (SYN, SYN-ACK signals). Moreover, the window scalingcorresponds to the lowest common denominator in the data path, often anend node with small buffer size. This window scale often is a scale of 0or 1, which corresponds to a buffer size of up to 64 k or 128 k bytes.Note that because the window size is defined as the window field in eachpacket shifted over by the window scale, the window scale establishes anupper limit for the buffer, but does not guarantee the buffer isactually that large. Each packet indicates the current available bufferspace at the receiver in the window field.

In one embodiment of scaling using the window virtualization technique,during connection establishment (i.e., initialization of a session) whenthe first flow control module 220 receives from the source node 102 theSYN signal (or packet), the flow control module 220 stores the windowsscale of the source node 102 (which is the previous node) or stores a 0for window scale if the scale of the previous node is missing. The firstflow control module 220 also modifies the scale, e.g., increases thescale to 4 from 0 or 1, in the SYN-FCM signal. When the second flowcontrol module 220 receives the SYN signal, it stores the increasedscale from the first flow control signal and resets the scale in the SYNsignal back to the source node 103 scale value for transmission to thedestination node 106. When the second flow controller 220 receives theSYN-ACK signal from the destination node 106, it stores the scale fromthe destination node 106 scale, e.g., 0 or 1, and modifies it to anincreased scale that is sent with the SYN-ACK-FCM signal. The first flowcontrol node 220 receives and notes the received window scale andrevises the windows scale sent back to the source node 102 back down tothe original scale, e.g., 0 or 1. Based on the above window shiftconversation during connection establishment, the window field in everysubsequent packet, e.g., TCP packet, of the session must be shiftedaccording to the window shift conversion.

The window scale, as described above, expresses buffer sizes of over 64k and may not be required for window virtualization. Thus, shifts forwindow scale may be used to express increased buffer capacity in eachflow control module 220. This increase in buffer capacity in may bereferenced as window (or buffer) virtualization. The increase in buffersize allows greater packet through put from and to the respective endnodes 102 and 106. Note that buffer sizes in TCP are typically expressedin terms of bytes, but for ease of discussion “packets” may be used inthe description herein as it relates to virtualization.

By way of example, a window (or buffer) virtualization performed by theflow controller 220 is described. In this example, the source node 102and the destination node 106 are configured similar to conventional endnodes having a limited buffer capacity of 16 k bytes, which equalsapproximately 10 packets of data. Typically, an end node 102, 106 mustwait until the packet is transmitted and confirmation is received beforea next group of packets can be transmitted. In one embodiment, usingincreased buffer capacity in the flow control modules 220, when thesource node 103 transmits its data packets, the first flow controlmodule 220 receives the packets, stores it in its larger capacitybuffer, e.g., 512 packet capacity, and immediately sends back anacknowledgement signal indicating receipt of the packets (“REC-ACK”)back to the source node 102. The source node 102 can then “flush” itscurrent buffer, load it with 10 new data packets, and transmit thoseonto the first flow control module 220. Again, the first flow controlmodule 220 transmits a REC-ACK signal back to the source node 102 andthe source node 102 flushes its buffer and loads it with 10 more newpackets for transmission.

As the first flow control module 220 receives the data packets from thesource nodes, it loads up its buffer accordingly. When it is ready thefirst flow control module 220 can begin transmitting the data packets tothe second flow control module 230, which also has an increased buffersize, for example, to receive 512 packets. The second flow controlmodule 220′ receives the data packets and begins to transmit 10 packetsat a time to the destination node 106. Each REC-ACK received at thesecond flow control node 220 from the destination node 106 results in 10more packets being transmitted to the destination node 106 until all thedata packets are transferred. Hence, the present invention is able toincrease data transmission throughput between the source node (sender)102 and the destination node (receiver) 106 by taking advantage of thelarger buffer in the flow control modules 220, 220′ between the devices.

It is noted that by “preacking” the transmission of data as describedpreviously, a sender (or source node 102) is allowed to transmit moredata than is possible without the preacks, thus affecting a largerwindow size. For example, in one embodiment this technique is effectivewhen the flow control module 220, 220′ is located “near” a node (e.g.,source node 102 or destination node 106) that lacks large windows.

Another technique or algorithm of the flow controller 220 is referred toas recongestion. The standard TCP congestion avoidance algorithms areknown to perform poorly in the face of certain network conditions,including: large RTTs (round trip times), high packet loss rates, andothers. When the appliance 200 detects a congestion condition such aslong round trip times or high packet loss, the appliance 200 intervenes,substituting an alternate congestion avoidance algorithm that bettersuits the particular network condition. In one embodiment, therecongestion algorithm uses preacks to effectively terminate theconnection between the sender and the receiver. The appliance 200 thenresends the packets from itself to the receiver, using a differentcongestion avoidance algorithm. Recongestion algorithms may be dependenton the characteristics of the TCP connection. The appliance 200 monitorseach TCP connection, characterizing it with respect to the differentdimensions, selecting a recongestion algorithm that is appropriate forthe current characterization.

In one embodiment, upon detecting a TCP connection that is limited byround trip times (RTT), a recongestion algorithm is applied whichbehaves as multiple TCP connections. Each TCP connection operates withinits own performance limit but the aggregate bandwidth achieves a higherperformance level. One parameter in this mechanism is the number ofparallel connections that are applied (N). Too large a value of N andthe connection bundle achieves more than its fair share of bandwidth.Too small a value of N and the connection bundle achieves less than itsfair share of bandwidth. One method of establishing “N” relies on theappliance 200 monitoring the packet loss rate, RTT, and packet size ofthe actual connection. These numbers are plugged into a TCP responsecurve formula to provide an upper limit on the performance of a singleTCP connection in the present configuration. If each connection withinthe connection bundle is achieving substantially the same performance asthat computed to be the upper limit, then additional parallelconnections are applied. If the current bundle is achieving lessperformance than the upper limit, the number of parallel connections isreduced. In this manner, the overall fairness of the system ismaintained since individual connection bundles contain no moreparallelism than is required to eliminate the restrictions imposed bythe protocol itself. Furthermore, each individual connection retains TCPcompliance.

Another method of establishing “N” is to utilize a parallel flow controlalgorithm such as the TCP “Vegas” algorithm or its improved version“Stabilized Vegas.” In this method, the network information associatedwith the connections in the connection bundle (e.g., RTT, loss rate,average packet size, etc.) is aggregated and applied to the alternateflow control algorithm. The results of this algorithm are in turndistributed among the connections of the bundle controlling their number(i.e., N). Optionally, each connection within the bundle continues usingthe standard TCP congestion avoidance algorithm.

In another embodiment, the individual connections within a parallelbundle are virtualized, i.e., actual individual TCP connections are notestablished. Instead the congestion avoidance algorithm is modified tobehave as though there were N parallel connections. This method has theadvantage of appearing to transiting network nodes as a singleconnection. Thus the QOS, security and other monitoring methods of thesenodes are unaffected by the recongestion algorithm. In yet anotherembodiment, the individual connections within a parallel bundle arereal, i.e., a separate. TCP connection is established for each of theparallel connections within a bundle. The congestion avoidance algorithmfor each TCP connection need not be modified.

In some embodiments, the flow controller 220 may apply a localretransmission technique. One reason for implementing preacks is toprepare to transit a high-loss link (e.g., wireless). In theseembodiments, the preacking appliance 200 or flow control module 220 islocated most beneficially “before” the wireless link. This allowsretransmissions to be performed closer to the high loss link, removingthe retransmission burden from the remainder of the network. Theappliance 200 may provide local retransmission, in which case, packetsdropped due to failures of the link are retransmitted directly by theappliance 200. This is advantageous because it eliminates theretransmission burden upon an end node, such as server 106, andinfrastructure of any of the networks 104. With appliance 200 providinglocal retransmissions, the dropped packet can be retransmitted acrossthe high loss link without necessitating a retransmit by an end node anda corresponding decrease in the rate of data transmission from the endnode.

Another reason for implementing preacks is to avoid a receive time out(RTO) penalty. In standard TCP there are many situations that result inan RTO, even though a large percentage of the packets in flight weresuccessfully received. With standard TCP algorithms, dropping more thanone packet within an RTT window would likely result in a timeout.Additionally, most TCP connections experience a timeout if aretransmitted packet is dropped. In a network with a high bandwidthdelay product, even a relatively small packet loss rate will causefrequent Retransmission timeouts (RTOs). In one embodiment, theappliance 200 uses a retransmit and timeout algorithm is avoid prematureRTOs. The appliance 200 or flow controller 220 maintains a count ofretransmissions is maintained on a per-packet basis. Each time that apacket is retransmitted, the count is incremented by one and theappliance 200 continues to transmit packets. In some embodiments, onlyif a packet has been retransmitted a predetermined number of times is anRTO declared.

In some embodiments, as a sender transmits data packets, the sendermaintains a data structure of acknowledged instances of data packettransmissions; each instance of a data packet transmission is referencedby its sequence number and transmit number. By maintaining a transmitnumber for each packet, the sender retains the ordering of thetransmission of data packets. When the sender receives an ACK or a SACK,the sender determines the highest transmit number associated withpackets that the receiver indicated has arrived (in the receivedacknowledgement). Any outstanding unacknowledged packets with lowertransmit numbers are presumed lost.

In some embodiments, the sender is presented with an ambiguous situationwhen the arriving packet has been retransmitted: a standard ACK/SACKdoes not contain enough information to allow the sender to determinewhich transmission of the arriving packet has triggered theacknowledgement. After receiving an ambiguous acknowledgement,therefore, the sender disambiguates the acknowledgement to associate itwith a transmit number. In various embodiments, one or a combination ofseveral techniques may be used to resolve this ambiguity.

In one embodiment, the sender includes an identifier with a transmitteddata packet, and the receiver returns that identifier or a functionthereof with the acknowledgement. The identifier may be a timestamp(e.g., a TCP timestamp as described in RFC 1323), a sequential number,or any other information that can be used to resolve between two or moreinstances of a packet's transmission. In an embodiment in which the TCPtimestamp option is used to disambiguate the acknowledgement, eachpacket is tagged with up to 32-bits of unique information. Upon receiptof the data packet, the receiver echoes this unique information back tothe sender with the acknowledgement. The sender ensures that theoriginally sent packet and its retransmitted version or versions containdifferent values for the timestamp option, allowing it to unambiguouslyeliminate the ACK ambiguity. The sender may maintain this uniqueinformation, for example, in the data structure in which it stores thestatus of sent data packets. This technique is advantageous because itcomplies with industry standards and is thus likely to encounter littleor no interoperability issues. However, this technique may require tenbytes of TCP header space in some implementations, reducing theeffective throughput rate on the network and reducing space availablefor other TCP options.

In another embodiment, another field in the packet, such as the IP IDfield, is used to disambiguate in a way similar to the TCP timestampoption described above. The sender arranges for the ID field values ofthe original and the retransmitted version or versions of the packet tohave different ID fields in the IP header. Upon reception of the datapacket at the receiver, or a proxy device thereof, the receiver sets theID field of the ACK packet to a function of the ID field of the packetthat triggers the ACK. This method is advantageous, as it requires noadditional data to be sent, preserving the efficiency of the network andTCP header space. The function chosen should provide a high degree oflikelihood of providing disambiguation. In a preferred embodiment, thesender selects IP ID values with the most significant bit set to 0. Whenthe receiver responds, the IP ID value is set to the same IP ID valuewith the most significant bit set to a one.

In another embodiment, the transmit numbers associated withnon-ambiguous acknowledgements are used to disambiguate an ambiguousacknowledgement. This technique is based on the principle thatacknowledgements for two packets will tend to be received closer in timeas the packets are transmitted closer in time. Packets that are notretransmitted will not result in ambiguity, as the acknowledgementsreceived for such packets can be readily associated with a transmitnumber. Therefore, these known transmit numbers are compared to thepossible transmit numbers for an ambiguous acknowledgement received nearin time to the known acknowledgement. The sender compares the transmitnumbers of the ambiguous acknowledgement against the last known receivedtransmit number, selecting the one closest to the known receivedtransmit number. For example, if an acknowledgement for data packet 1 isreceived and the last received acknowledgement was for data packet 5,the sender resolves the ambiguity by assuming that the third instance ofdata packet 1 caused the acknowledgement.

Another technique of the appliance 200 or flow controller 220 is toimplement an embodiment of transport control protocol selectiveacknowledgements, or TCP SACK, to determine what packets have or havenot been received. This technique allows the sender to determineunambiguously a list of packets that have been received by the receiveras well as an accurate list of packets not received. This functionalitymay be implemented by modifying the sender and/or receiver, or byinserting sender- and receiver-side flow control modules 220 in thenetwork path between the sender and receiver. In reference to FIG. 1D orFIG. 1E, a sender, e.g., client 102, is configured to transmit datapackets to the receiver, e.g., server 106, over the network 104. Inresponse, the receiver returns a TCP Selective Acknowledgment option,referred to as SACK packet to the sender. In one embodiment, thecommunication is bi-directional, although only one direction ofcommunication is discussed here for simplicity. The receiver maintains alist, or other suitable data structure, that contains a group of rangesof sequence numbers for data packets that the receiver has actuallyreceived. In some embodiments, the list is sorted by sequence number inan ascending or descending order. The receiver also maintains a left-offpointer, which comprises a reference into the list and indicates theleft-off point from the previously generated SACK packet.

Upon reception of a data packet, the receiver generates and transmits aSACK packet back to the sender. In some embodiments, the SACK packetincludes a number of fields, each of which can hold a range of sequencenumbers to indicate a set of received data packets. The receiver fillsthis first field of the SACK packet with a range of sequence numbersthat includes the landing packet that triggered the SACK packet. Theremaining available SACK fields are filled with ranges of sequencenumbers from the list of received packets. As there are more ranges inthe list than can be loaded into the SACK packet, the receiver uses theleft-off pointer to determine which ranges are loaded into the SACKpacket. The receiver inserts the SACK ranges consecutively from thesorted list, starting from the range referenced by the pointer andcontinuing down the list until the available SACK range space in the TCPheader of the SACK packet is consumed. The receiver wraps around to thestart of the list if it reaches the end. In some embodiments, two orthree additional SACK ranges can be added to the SACK range information.

Once the receiver generates the SACK packet, the receiver sends theacknowledgement back to the sender. The receiver then advances theleft-off pointer by one or more SACK range entries in the list. If thereceiver inserts four SACK ranges, for example, the left-off pointer maybe advanced two SACK ranges in the list. When the advanced left-offpointer reaches at the end of the list, the pointer is reset to thestart of the list, effectively wrapping around the list of knownreceived ranges. Wrapping around the list enables the system to performwell, even in the presence of large losses of SACK packets, since theSACK information that is not communicated due to a lost SACK packet willeventually be communicated once the list is wrapped around.

It can be appreciated, therefore, that a SACK packet may communicateseveral details about the condition of the receiver. First, the SACKpacket indicates that, upon generation of the SACK packet, the receiverhad just received a data packet that is within the first field of theSACK information. Secondly, the second and subsequent fields of the SACKinformation indicate that the receiver has received the data packetswithin those ranges. The SACK information also implies that the receiverhad not, at the time of the SACK packet's generation, received any ofthe data packets that fall between the second and subsequent fields ofthe SACK information. In essence, the ranges between the second andsubsequent ranges in the SACK information are “holes” in the receiveddata, the data therein known not to have been delivered. Using thismethod, therefore, when a SACK packet has sufficient space to includemore than two SACK ranges, the receiver may indicate to the sender arange of data packets that have not yet been received by the receiver.

In another embodiment, the sender uses the SACK packet described abovein combination with the retransmit technique described above to makeassumptions about which data packets have been delivered to thereceiver. For example, when the retransmit algorithm (using the transmitnumbers) declares a packet lost, the sender considers the packet to beonly conditionally lost, as it is possible that the SACK packetidentifying the reception of this packet was lost rather than the datapacket itself. The sender thus adds this packet to a list of potentiallylost packets, called the presumed lost list. Each time a SACK packetarrives, the known missing ranges of data from the SACK packet arecompared to the packets in the presumed lost list. Packets that containdata known to be missing are declared actually lost and are subsequentlyretransmitted. In this way, the two schemes are combined to give thesender better information about which packets have been lost and need tobe retransmitted.

In some embodiments, the appliance 200 or flow controller 220 applies atechnique referred to as transaction boundary detection. In oneembodiment, the technique pertains to ping-pong behaved connections. Atthe TCP layer, ping-pong behavior is when one communicant—a sender-sendsdata and then waits for a response from the other communicant—thereceiver. Examples of ping-pong behavior include remote procedure call,HTTP and others. The algorithms described above use retransmissiontimeout (RTO) to recover from the dropping of the last packet or packetsassociated with the transaction. Since the TCP RTO mechanism isextremely coarse in some embodiments, for example requiring a minimumone second value in all cases), poor application behavior may be seen inthese situations.

In one embodiment, the sender of data or a flow control module 220coupled to the sender detects a transaction boundary in the data beingsent. Upon detecting a transaction boundary, the sender or a flowcontrol module 220 sends additional packets, whose reception generatesadditional ACK or SACK responses from the receiver. Insertion of theadditional packets is preferably limited to balance between improvedapplication response time and network capacity utilization. The numberof additional packets that is inserted may be selected according to thecurrent loss rate associated with that connection, with more packetsselected for connections having a higher loss rate.

One method of detecting a transaction boundary is time based. If thesender has been sending data and ceases, then after a period of time thesender or flow control module 200 declares a transaction boundary. Thismay be combined with other techniques. For example, the setting of thePSH (TCP Push) bit by the sender in the TCP header may indicate atransaction boundary. Accordingly, combining the time-based approachwith these additional heuristics can provide for more accurate detectionof a transaction boundary. In another technique, if the sender or flowcontrol module 220 understands the application protocol, it can parsethe protocol data stream and directly determine transaction boundaries.In some embodiment, this last behavior can be used independent of anytime-based mechanism.

Responsive to detecting a transaction boundary, the sender or flowcontrol module 220 transmits additional data packets to the receiver tocause acknowledgements therefrom. The additional data packets shouldtherefore be such that the receiver will at least generate an ACK orSACK in response to receiving the data packet. In one embodiment, thelast packet or packets of the transaction are simply retransmitted. Thishas the added benefit of retransmitting needed data if the last packetor packets had been dropped, as compared to merely sending dummy datapackets. In another embodiment, fractions of the last packet or packetsare sent, allowing the sender to disambiguate the arrival of thesepackets from their original packets. This allows the receiver to avoidfalsely confusing any reordering adaptation algorithms. In anotherembodiment, any of a number of well-known forward error correctiontechniques can be used to generate additional data for the insertedpackets, allowing for the reconstruction of dropped or otherwise missingdata at the receiver.

In some embodiments, the boundary detection technique described hereinhelps to avoid a timeout when the acknowledgements for the last datapackets in a transaction are dropped. When the sender or flow controlmodule 220 receives the acknowledgements for these additional datapackets, the sender can determine from these additional acknowledgementswhether the last data packets have been received or need to beretransmitted, thus avoiding a timeout. In one embodiment, if the lastpackets have been received but their acknowledgements were dropped, aflow control module 220 generates an acknowledgement for the datapackets and sends the acknowledgement to the sender, thus communicatingto the sender that the data packets have been delivered. In anotherembodiment, if the last packets have not been received, a flow controlmodule 200 sends a packet to the sender to cause the sender toretransmit the dropped data packets.

In yet another embodiment, the appliance 200 or flow controller 220applies a repacketization technique for improving the flow of transportlayer network traffic. In some embodiments, performance of TCP isproportional to packet size. Thus increasing packet sizes improvesperformance unless it causes substantially increased packet loss ratesor other nonlinear effects, like IP fragmentation. In general, wiredmedia (such as copper or fibre optics) have extremely low bit-errorrates, low enough that these can be ignored. For these media, it isadvantageous for the packet size to be the maximum possible beforefragmentation occurs (the maximum packet size is limited by theprotocols of the underlying transmission media). Whereas fortransmission media with higher loss rates (e.g., wireless technologiessuch as WiFi, etc., or high-loss environments such as power-linenetworking, etc.), increasing the packet size may lead to lowertransmission rates, as media-induced errors cause an entire packet to bedropped (i.e., media-induced errors beyond the capability of thestandard error correcting code for that media), increasing the packetloss rate. A sufficiently large increase in the packet loss rate willactually negate any performance benefit of increasing packet size. Insome cases, it may be difficult for a TCP endpoint to choose an optimalpacket size. For example, the optimal packet size may vary across thetransmission path, depending on the nature of each link.

By inserting an appliance 200 or flow control module 220 into thetransmission path, the flow controller 220 monitors characteristics ofthe link and repacketizes according to determined link characteristics.In one embodiment, an appliance 200 or flow controller 220 repacketizespackets with sequential data into a smaller number of larger packets. Inanother embodiment, an appliance 200 or flow controller 220 repacketizespackets by breaking part a sequence of large packets into a largernumber of smaller packets. In other embodiments, an appliance 200 orflow controller 220 monitors the link characteristics and adjusts thepacket sizes through recombination to improve throughput.

Still referring to FIG. 2A, the flow controller 220, in someembodiments, may include a QoS Engine 236, also referred to as a QoScontroller. In another embodiment, the appliance 200 and/or networkoptimization engine 250 includes the QoS engine 236, for example,separately but in communication with the flow controller 220. The QoSEngine 236 includes any logic, business rules, function or operationsfor performing one or more Quality of Service (QoS) techniques improvingthe performance, operation or quality of service of any of the networkconnections. In some embodiments, the QoS engine 236 includes networktraffic control and management mechanisms that provide differentpriorities to different users, applications, data flows or connections.In other embodiments, the QoS engine 236 controls, maintains, or assuresa certain level of performance to a user, application, data flow orconnection. In one embodiment, the QoS engine 236 controls, maintains orassures a certain portion of bandwidth or network capacity for a user,application, data flow or connection. In some embodiments, the QoSengine 236 monitors the achieved level of performance or the quality ofservice corresponding to a user, application, data flow or connection,for example, the data rate and delay. In response to monitoring, the QoSengine 236 dynamically controls or adjusts scheduling priorities ofnetwork packets to achieve the desired level of performance or qualityof service.

In some embodiments, the QoS engine 236 prioritizes, schedules andtransmits network packets according to one or more classes or levels ofservices. In some embodiments, the class or level service mayinclude: 1) best efforts, 2) controlled load, 3) guaranteed or 4)qualitative. For a best efforts class of service, the appliance 200makes reasonable effort to deliver packets (a standard service level).For a controlled load class of service, the appliance 200 or QoS engine236 approximates the standard packet error loss of the transmissionmedium or approximates the behavior of best-effort service in lightlyloaded network conditions. For a guaranteed class of service, theappliance 200 or QoS engine 236 guarantees the ability to transmit dataat a determined rate for the duration of the connection. For aqualitative class of service, the appliance 200 or QoS engine 236 thequalitative service class is used for applications, users, data flows orconnection that require or desire prioritized traffic but cannotquantify resource needs or level of service. In these cases, theappliance 200 or QoS engine 236 determines the class of service orprioritization based on any logic or configuration of the QoS engine 236or based on business rules or policies. For example, in one embodiment,the QoS engine 236 prioritizes, schedules and transmits network packetsaccording to one or more policies as specified by the policy engine 295,295′.

The protocol accelerator 234 includes any logic, business rules,function or operations for optimizing, accelerating, or otherwiseimproving the performance, operation or quality of service of one ormore protocols. In one embodiment, the protocol accelerator 234accelerates any application layer protocol or protocols at layers 5-7 ofthe network stack. In other embodiments, the protocol accelerator 234accelerates a transport layer or a layer 4 protocol. In one embodiment,the protocol accelerator 234 accelerates layer 2 or layer 3 protocols.In some embodiments, the protocol accelerator 234 is configured,constructed or designed to optimize or accelerate each of one or moreprotocols according to the type of data, characteristics and/or behaviorof the protocol. In another embodiment, the protocol accelerator 234 isconfigured, constructed or designed to improve a user experience,response times, network or computer load, and/or network or bandwidthutilization with respect to a protocol.

In one embodiment, the protocol accelerator 234 is configured,constructed or designed to minimize the effect of WAN latency on filesystem access. In some embodiments, the protocol accelerator 234optimizes or accelerates the use of the CIFS (Common Internet FileSystem) protocol to improve file system access times or access times todata and files. In some embodiments, the protocol accelerator 234optimizes or accelerates the use of the NFS (Network File System)protocol. In another embodiment, the protocol accelerator 234 optimizesor accelerates the use of the File Transfer protocol (FTP).

In one embodiment, the protocol accelerator 234 is configured,constructed or designed to optimize or accelerate a protocol carrying asa payload or using any type and form of markup language. In otherembodiments, the protocol accelerator 234 is configured, constructed ordesigned to optimize or accelerate a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP).In another embodiment, the protocol accelerator 234 is configured,constructed or designed to optimize or accelerate a protocol carrying asa payload or otherwise using XML (eXtensible Markup Language).

In some embodiments, the appliance 200 and/or network optimizationengine 250 is transparent to any data flowing across a networkconnection or link, such as a WAN link. In one embodiment, the appliance200 and/or network optimization engine 250 operates in such a mannerthat the data flow across the WAN is recognizable by any networkmonitoring, QOS management or network analysis tools. In someembodiments, the appliance 200 and/or network optimization engine 250does not create any tunnels or streams for transmitting data that mayhide, obscure or otherwise make the network traffic not transparent. Inother embodiments, the appliance 200 operates transparently in that theappliance does not change any of the source and/or destination addressinformation or port information of a network packet, such as Internetprotocol addresses or port numbers. In other embodiments, the appliance200 and/or network optimization engine 250 is considered to operate orbehave transparently to the network, an application, client, server orother appliances or computing device in the network infrastructure. Thatis, in some embodiments, the appliance is transparent in that networkrelated configuration of any device or appliance on the network does notneed to be modified to support the appliance 200.

The appliance 200 may be deployed in any of the following deploymentconfigurations: 1) in-line of traffic, 2) in proxy mode, or 3) in avirtual in-line mode. In some embodiments, the appliance 200 may bedeployed inline to one or more of the following: a router, a client, aserver or another network device or appliance. In other embodiments, theappliance 200 may be deployed in parallel to one or more of thefollowing: a router, a client, a server or another network device orappliance. In parallel deployments, a client, server, router or othernetwork appliance may be configured to forward, transfer or transitnetworks to or via the appliance 200.

In the embodiment of in-line, the appliance 200 is deployed inline witha WAN link of a router. In this way, all traffic from the WAN passesthrough the appliance before arriving at a destination of a LAN.

In the embodiment of a proxy mode, the appliance 200 is deployed as aproxy device between a client and a server. In some embodiments, theappliance 200 allows clients to make indirect connections to a resourceon a network. For example, a client connects to a resource via theappliance 200, and the appliance provides the resource either byconnecting to the resource, a different resource, or by serving theresource from a cache. In some cases, the appliance may alter theclient's request or the server's response for various purposes, such asfor any of the optimization techniques discussed herein. In otherembodiments, the appliance 200 behaves as a transparent proxy, byintercepting and forwarding requests and responses transparently to aclient and/or server. Without client-side configuration, the appliance200 may redirect client requests to different servers or networks. Insome embodiments, the appliance 200 may perform any type and form ofnetwork address translation, referred to as NAT, on any network traffictraversing the appliance.

In some embodiments, the appliance 200 is deployed in a virtual in-linemode configuration. In this embodiment, a router or a network devicewith routing or switching functionality is configured to forward,reroute or otherwise provide network packets destined to a network tothe appliance 200. The appliance 200 then performs any desiredprocessing on the network packets, such as any of the WAN optimizationtechniques discussed herein. Upon completion of processing, theappliance 200 forwards the processed network packet to the router totransmit to the destination on the network. In this way, the appliance200 can be coupled to the router in parallel but still operate as it ifthe appliance 200 were inline. This deployment mode also providestransparency in that the source and destination addresses and portinformation are preserved as the packet is processed and transmitted viathe appliance through the network.

Although the network optimization engine 250 is generally describedabove in conjunction with an appliance 200, the network optimizationengine 250, or any portion thereof, may be deployed, distributed orotherwise operated on any end node, such as a client 102 and/or server106. As such, a client or server may provide any of the systems andmethods of the network optimization engine 250 described herein inconjunction with one or more appliances 200 or without an appliance 200.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, an example embodiment of the networkoptimization engine 250 deployed on one or more end nodes is depicted.In brief overview, the client 102 may include a first networkoptimization engine 250′ and the server 106 may include a second networkoptimization engine 250″. The client 102 and server 106 may establish atransport layer connection and exchange communications with or withouttraversing an appliance 200.

In one embodiment, the network optimization engine 250′ of the client102 performs the techniques described herein to optimize, accelerate orotherwise improve the performance, operation or quality of service ofnetwork traffic communicated with the server 106. In another embodiment,the network optimization engine 250″ of the server 106 performs thetechniques described herein to optimize, accelerate or otherwise improvethe performance, operation or quality of service of network trafficcommunicated with the client 102. In some embodiments, the networkoptimization engine 250′ of the client 102 and the network optimizationengine 250″ of the server 106 perform the techniques described herein tooptimize, accelerate or otherwise improve the performance, operation orquality of service of network traffic communicated between the client102 and the server 106. In yet another embodiment, the networkoptimization engine 250′ of the client 102 performs the techniquesdescribed herein in conjunction with an appliance 200 to optimize,accelerate or otherwise improve the performance, operation or quality ofservice of network traffic communicated with the client 102. In stillanother embodiment, the network optimization engine 250″ of the server106 performs the techniques described herein in conjunction with anappliance 200 to optimize, accelerate or otherwise improve theperformance, operation or quality of service of network trafficcommunicated with the server 106.

Network appliances are often used to provide access to one or morenetwork services. A network appliance may comprise a number of virtualservers, each virtual server providing access to a number of services.The virtual servers may manage incoming connections from clients, anddirect client requests to one or more services. In the course ofmanaging incoming connection requests, network appliances may provideload balancing among the virtual servers. When a virtual server is downor unavailable to service a connection request, the appliance may use abackup virtual server to manage incoming connections.

A virtual server may be operational or available but not operating at adesired performance level. A network appliance may direct a clientrequest or connection to a virtual server operating less than an optimalperformance level. For example, a network appliance may direct a clientrequest to a virtual server that is slow. In another example, thenetwork appliance may direct a client request to a virtual server thatis servicing a high amount of responses or network traffic. The virtualserver may be using significant network capacity transferring requestsand responses between clients and services. In some cases, the responsetime of the virtual server may increase if it handles additional clientconnections because of the limited availability of bandwidth. In othercases, the round trip times between the server and the virtual server orbetween the client and server may increase due to the limitedavailability of bandwidth.

Referring now to FIG. 2C, another embodiment of a network environmentfor delivering and/or operating a computing environment 15 on a client102 is depicted. The appliance 200 may provide acceleration techniquesfor accelerating any transport layer payload from a server 106 to aclient 102, such as: 1) transport layer connection pooling, 2) transportlayer connection multiplexing, 3) transport control protocol buffering,4) compression and 5) caching. In one embodiment, the appliance 200provides load balancing of servers 106 in responding to requests fromclients 102. In another embodiment, the appliance 200 acts as a proxy oraccess server to provide access to the one or more servers 106. In stillanother embodiment, the appliance 200 provides a secure virtual privatenetwork connection from a first network 104 of the client 102 to asecond network 104′ of the server 106, such as an SSL VPN connection. Instill even another embodiment, the appliance 200 provides applicationfirewall security, control and management of the connection andcommunications between a client 102 and a server 106. In someembodiments, each of the application delivery system 290, theapplication, and data file may reside or be located on differentservers. In other embodiments, any portion of the application deliverysystem 290 may reside, execute or be stored on or distributed to theappliance 200, or a plurality of appliances.

Still referring to FIG. 2C, an embodiment of the network environment mayinclude a monitoring server 106A. The monitoring server 106A may includeany type and form performance monitoring service 298. The performancemonitoring service 298 may include monitoring, measurement and/ormanagement software and/or hardware, including data collection,aggregation, analysis, management and reporting. In one embodiment, theperformance monitoring service 298 includes one or more monitoringagents 297. The monitoring agent 297 includes any software, hardware orcombination thereof for performing monitoring, measurement and datacollection activities on a device, such as a client 102, server 106 oran appliance 200. In some embodiments, the monitoring agent 297 includesany type and form of script, such as VISUAL BASIC script, or JAVASCRIPT.In one embodiment, the monitoring agent 297 executes transparently toany application and/or user of the device. In some embodiments, themonitoring agent 297 is installed and operated unobtrusively to theapplication or client. In yet another embodiment, the monitoring agent297 is installed and operated without any instrumentation for theapplication or device.

In some embodiments, the monitoring agent 297 monitors, measures andcollects data on a predetermined frequency. In other embodiments, themonitoring agent 297 monitors, measures and collects data based upondetection of any type and form of event. For example, the monitoringagent 297 may collect data upon detection of a request for a web page orreceipt of an HTTP response. In another example, the monitoring agent297 may collect data upon detection of any user input events, such as amouse click. The monitoring agent 297 may report or provide anymonitored, measured or collected data to the monitoring service 298. Inone embodiment, the monitoring agent 297 transmits information to themonitoring service 298 according to a schedule or a predeterminedfrequency. In another embodiment, the monitoring agent 297 transmitsinformation to the monitoring service 298 upon detection of an event.

In some embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 performs monitoring and performance measurement of any networkresource or network infrastructure element, such as a client 102, server106, server farm 38, appliance 200, or network connection. In oneembodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297performs monitoring and performance measurement of any transport layerconnection, such as a TCP or UDP connection. In another embodiment, themonitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors and measuresnetwork latency. In yet another embodiment, the monitoring service 298and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors and measures bandwidth utilization.

In other embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 monitors and measures end-user response times. In some embodiments,the monitoring service 298 performs monitoring and performancemeasurement of an application. In another embodiment, the monitoringservice 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 performs monitoring andperformance measurement of any session or connection to the application.In one embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 monitors and measures performance of a browser. In anotherembodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297monitors and measures performance of HTTP based transactions. In someembodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297monitors and measures performance of a Voice over IP (VoIP) applicationor session. In other embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/ormonitoring agent 297 monitors and measures performance of a remotedisplay protocol application, such as an ICA client or RDP client. Inyet another embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoringagent 297 monitors and measures performance of any type and form ofstreaming media. In still a further embodiment, the monitoring service298 and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors and measures performance of ahosted application or a Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) delivery model.

In some embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 performs monitoring and performance measurement of one or moretransactions, requests or responses related to an application. In otherembodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297monitors and measures any portion of an application layer stack, such asany .NET or J2EE calls. In one embodiment, the monitoring service 298and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors and measures database or SQLtransactions. In yet another embodiment, the monitoring service 298and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors and measures any method, functionor application programming interface (API) call.

In one embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 performs monitoring and performance measurement of a delivery ofapplication and/or data from a server 106 to a client 102 via one ormore appliances, such as appliance 200. In some embodiments, themonitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors and measuresperformance of delivery of a virtualized application. In otherembodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297monitors and measures performance of delivery of a streamingapplication. In another embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/ormonitoring agent 297 monitors and measures performance of delivery of adesktop application to a client 102 and/or the execution of the desktopapplication on the client 102. In another embodiment, the monitoringservice 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors and measuresperformance of a client/server application.

In one embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 is designed and constructed to provide application performancemanagement for the application delivery system 290. For example, themonitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 may monitor, measureor manage the performance of the delivery of applications via the CITRIXPRESENTATION SERVER, CITRIX XENAPP, or CITRIX XEN DESKTOP solutions. Inthis example, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297monitors individual presentation level protocol sessions, such as ICAsessions. The monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 maymeasure the total and per session system resource usage, as well asapplication and networking performance. The monitoring service 298and/or monitoring agent 297 may identify the active servers for a givenuser and/or user session. In some embodiments, the monitoring service298 and/or monitoring agent 297 monitors back-end connections betweenthe application delivery system 290 and an application and/or databaseserver. The monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 maymeasure network latency, delay and volume per user-session or ICAsession.

In some embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 measures and monitors memory usage for the application deliverysystem 290, such as total memory usage, per user session and/or perprocess. In other embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/ormonitoring agent 297 measures and monitors CPU usage of the applicationdelivery system 290, such as total CPU usage, per user session and/orper process. In another embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/ormonitoring agent 297 measures and monitors the time required to log-into an application, a server, or the application delivery system, such asa CITRIX PRESENTATION SERVER, CITRIX XENAPP, or CITRIX XEN DESKTOPsystem. In one embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoringagent 297 measures and monitors the duration a user is logged into anapplication, a server, or the application delivery system 290. In someembodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297measures and monitors active and inactive session counts for anapplication, server 106 or application delivery system session. In yetanother embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent297 measures and monitors user session latency.

In yet further embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoringagent 297 measures and monitors any type and form of server metrics. Inone embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297measures and monitors metrics related to system memory, CPU usage, anddisk storage. In another embodiment, the monitoring service 298 and/ormonitoring agent 297 measures and monitors metrics related to pagefaults, such as page faults per second. In other embodiments, themonitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 measures and monitorsround-trip time metrics. In yet another embodiment, the monitoringservice 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 measures and monitors metricsrelated to application crashes, errors and/or hangs.

In some embodiments, the monitoring service 298 and monitoring agent 297includes a performance monitoring or end-user monitoring program, suchas EDGESIGHT manufactured by Citrix Systems, Inc., of Ft. Lauderdale,Fla. In another embodiment, the performance monitoring service 298and/or monitoring agent 297 includes any portion of the productembodiments referred to as the TRUEVIEW product suite manufactured bythe Symphoniq Corporation of Palo Alto, Calif. In one embodiment, theperformance monitoring service 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 includesany portion of the product embodiments referred to as the TEALEAF CXproduct suite manufactured by the TeaLeaf Technology Inc., of SanFrancisco, Calif. In other embodiments, the performance monitoringservice 298 and/or monitoring agent 297 includes any portion of thebusiness service management products, such as the BMC PerformanceManager and PATROL products, manufactured by BMC Software, Inc., ofHouston, Tex.

In some embodiments, a monitoring agent 297 may monitor and measureperformance of any application of the client. In one embodiment, themonitoring agent 297 monitors and measures the performance of a browseron the client 102. In some embodiments, the monitoring agent 297monitors and measures performance of any application delivered via theclient agent 120. In other embodiments, the monitoring agent 297measures and monitors end user response times for an application, suchas web-based or HTTP response times. The monitoring agent 297 maymonitor and measure performance of an ICA or RDP client. In anotherembodiment, the monitoring agent 297 measures and monitors metrics for auser session or application session. In some embodiments, monitoringagent 297 measures and monitors an ICA or RDP session. In oneembodiment, the monitoring agent 297 measures and monitors theperformance of the appliance 200 in accelerating delivery of anapplication and/or data to the client 102.

In some embodiments, the appliance 200 may include a performancemonitoring agent 297. In one embodiment, the appliance 200 receives themonitoring agent 297 from a monitoring service 298 or monitoring server106A. In other embodiments, the appliance 200 stores the monitoringagent 297 in storage, such as a disk, for delivery to any client 102 orserver 106 in communication with the appliance 200. For example, in oneembodiment, the appliance 200 transmits the monitoring agent 297 to aclient 102 upon receiving a request to establish a transport layerconnection. In other embodiments, the appliance 200 transmits themonitoring agent 297 upon establishing the transport layer connectionwith the client 102. In another embodiment, the appliance 200 transmitsthe monitoring agent 297 to the client upon intercepting or detecting arequest for a web page. In yet another embodiment, the appliance 200transmits the monitoring agent 297 to a client 102 or a server 106 inresponse to a request from the monitoring server 298. In one embodiment,the appliance 200 transmits the monitoring agent 297 to a secondappliance 200′ (not shown).

In one embodiment, the appliance 200 executes the monitoring agent 297.In another embodiment, the monitoring agent 297 measures and monitorsthe performance of any application, program, process, service, task orthread executing on the appliance 200. For example, the monitoring agent297 may monitor and measure performance and operation of virtual serversprovided by the appliance 200. In still another embodiment, themonitoring agent 297 measures and monitors the performance of anytransport layer connections of the appliance 200. In yet anotherembodiment, the monitoring agent 297 measures and monitors theperformance of any user sessions traversing the appliance 200.

In one embodiment, the monitoring agent 297 measures and monitors theperformance of any virtual private network connections and/or sessionstraversing the appliance 200, such as an SSL VPN session. In anotherembodiment, the monitoring agent 297 measures and monitors the memory,CPU and disk usage and performance of the appliance 200. In stillanother embodiment, the monitoring agent 297 measures and monitors theperformance of any acceleration technique performed by the appliance200, such as SSL offloading, connection pooling and multiplexing,caching, and compression. In some embodiments, the monitoring agent 197measures and monitors the performance of any load balancing and/orcontent switching performed by the appliance 200. In other embodiments,the monitoring agent 197 measures and monitors the performance ofapplication firewall protection and processing performed by theappliance 200.

Referring now to FIG. 2D, a block diagram of an appliance using aplurality of monitoring agents 244 to monitor a network service 270 isshown. In brief overview, an appliance 200 comprises a plurality ofmonitoring agents 244. Each of the plurality of monitoring agents isassigned to a service 270. In one embodiment, each of the plurality ofmonitoring agents may be assigned a weight. The monitoring agents 244may also be referred to as probes or load monitors. In some embodiments,a monitoring agent 244 may reside in a client 120, a server 106, or amachine.

Still referring to FIG. 2D, an appliance 200 comprises a plurality ofmonitoring agents 244. A monitoring agent 244 may comprise any program,script, daemon, or other computing routine that reports a performance oroperational characteristic of a network service 270 to the appliance200. A monitoring agent 244 may communicate with a network service 270once, or on a predetermined frequency, such as every millisecond orsecond. In some embodiments, a monitoring agent 244 may use arequest/reply messaging mechanism or protocol with the server 106. Inother embodiments, a monitoring agent 244 may have a custom orproprietary exchange protocol for communicating with the server 106. Insome embodiments, a single monitoring agent 244 may monitor a pluralityof servers 106. In other embodiments, a plurality of monitoring agents244 may monitor a single server 106. In still other embodiments, aplurality of monitoring agents 244 may each monitor a plurality ofservers 106, wherein each of the plurality of servers 106 is monitoredby a plurality of monitoring agents 244.

In the embodiment shown, the one or more monitoring agents 244 areassociated with one or more network services 270. In other embodiments,the one or more monitoring agents 244 may monitor an appliance 200, avirtual server, a network service 270, a client 102, or any othernetwork resource.

In one embodiment, a user specifies a type of network service 270 toassociate with the one or more monitoring agents 244. In anotherembodiment, a user may customize a monitoring agent 244. In stillanother embodiment, a generic monitoring agent 244 is used. In yetanother embodiment, the one or more monitoring agents 244 determine theresponse time of the one or more network services 270 for responding toa request of one of the following types: ping, transport controlprotocol (TCP), TCP extended content verification, hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), http extended content verification, hypertext transferprotocol secure (HTTPS), HTTPS extended content verification, userdatagram protocol, domain name service, and file transfer protocol.

In some embodiments, the one or more monitoring agents 244 areprotocol-specific agents, each monitoring agent 244 determining theavailability for a network service of a particular protocol-type. Insome embodiments, a monitoring agent 244 determines a response time of aserver 106 or network service 270 to a TCP request. In one of theseembodiments, the monitoring agent 244 uses a “TCP/ICMP echo request”command to send a datagram to the network service 270, receive adatagram from the network service 270 in response, and determine aresponse time based on the roundtrip time of the datagram. In another ofthese embodiments, the monitoring agent 244 verifies that the responsefrom the network service 270 included expected content and did notcontain errors.

In other embodiments, a monitoring agent 244 determines availability ofa network service 270 to a UDP request. In one of these embodiments, themonitoring agent 244 uses a “UDP echo” command to send a datagram to thenetwork service 270, receive a datagram from the network service 270 inresponse, and determine a response time based on the roundtrip time ofthe datagram. In another of these embodiments, the monitoring agent 244verifies that the response from the network service 270 includedexpected content and did not contain errors. In still other embodiments,the monitoring agent 244 determines an availability of a network service270 to an FTP request. In one of these embodiments, the monitoring agent244 sends an FTP command, such as a “get” command or a “put” command, tothe network service 270 and determines a time needed by the networkservice 270 to respond to the command. In another of these embodiments,the monitoring agent 244 verifies that the response from the networkservice 270 includes expected content, such as contents of a filerequested by a “get” command, and does not contain errors.

In yet other embodiments, the monitoring agent 244 determinesavailability of a network service 270 to an HTTP request. In one ofthese embodiments, the monitoring agent 244 sends an HTTP command, suchas a “get” request for a uniform resource locator (URL) or a file, tothe network service 270 and determines a time needed by the networkservice 270 to respond to the request. In another of these embodiments,the monitoring agent 244 verifies that the response from the networkservice 270 includes expected content, such as the contents of a webpage identified by the URL, and does not contain errors.

In further embodiments, the monitoring agent 244 determines anavailability of a network service 270 to a DNS request. In one of theseembodiments, the monitoring agent 244 sends a DNS request, such as adnsquery or nslookup for a known network address, to the server 106 ornetwork service 270 and determines a time needed by the server 106 ornetwork service 270 to respond to the request. In another of theseembodiments, the monitoring agent 244 verifies that the response fromthe network service 270 includes expected content, such as the domainname of a computing device 100 associated with the known networkaddress, and does not contain errors.

A monitoring agent 244 may be assigned a weight by a network appliance200. A weight may comprise an integer, decimal, or any other numericindicator. In some embodiments, a user may configure the weightcorresponding to a given monitoring agent 244. In some embodiments, aplurality of monitoring agents 244 may be assigned equal weight. Inother embodiments, a plurality of monitoring agents may each be assigneddifferent weights. The weights may be assigned to the monitors based onany criteria indicating relative importance, including withoutlimitation importance of the monitored service, reliability of themonitoring mechanism, and the frequency of monitoring.

In one embodiment, a monitoring agent 244 may be assigned a weight basedon the relative importance of the service 270 the appliance 200monitors. For example, if most user requests in a given environment wereHTTP requests, a monitoring agent 244 monitoring HTTP availability of aserver 106 might be assigned a weight of 10, while a monitoring agent244 monitoring FTP availability of a server 106 might be assigned aweight of three. Or, for example, if an administrator places a highpriority on UDP applications, a monitoring agent 244 monitoring UDPavailability of a server 106 may be assigned a weight of 20, while a DNSmonitoring agent 244 may be assigned a weight of 5.

In some embodiments, an appliance 200 may compute a sum of the weightsof the monitoring agents 244 currently reporting a network service 270as operational. For example, if five monitoring agents 244, eachassigned a weight of 30, are monitoring a network service 270, and threeof the five monitoring agents 244 report the network service 270 asavailable, the appliance 200 may determine the sum of the monitoringagents 244 currently reporting the network service 270 as operational tobe 90. Or for example, if only two monitoring agents 244, one with aweight of 20 and the other with a weight of 40, are reporting a server106 as available, the appliance 200 may compute the sum of themonitoring agents 244 currently reporting a server 106 as operational tobe 60.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment of a client agent 120 isdepicted. The client 102 has a client agent 120 for establishing,exchanging, managing or controlling communications with the appliance200, appliance 205 and/or server 106 via a network 104. In someembodiments, the client agent 120, which may also be referred to as aWAN client, accelerates WAN network communications and/or is used tocommunicate via appliance 200 on a network. In brief overview, theclient 102 operates on computing device 100 having an operating systemwith a kernel mode 302 and a user mode 303, and a network stack 267 withone or more layers 310 a-310 b. The client 102 may have installed and/orexecute one or more applications. In some embodiments, one or moreapplications may communicate via the network stack 267 to a network 104.One of the applications, such as a web browser, may also include a firstprogram 322. For example, the first program 322 may be used in someembodiments to install and/or execute the client agent 120, or anyportion thereof. The client agent 120 includes an interceptionmechanism, or interceptor 350, for intercepting network communicationsfrom the network stack 267 from the one or more applications.

As with the appliance 200, the client has a network stack 267 includingany type and form of software, hardware, or any combinations thereof,for providing connectivity to and communications with a network 104. Thenetwork stack 267 of the client 102 includes any of the network stackembodiments described above in conjunction with the appliance 200. Insome embodiments, the client agent 120, or any portion thereof, isdesigned and constructed to operate with or work in conjunction with thenetwork stack 267 installed or otherwise provided by the operatingsystem of the client 102.

In further details, the network stack 267 of the client 102 or appliance200 (or 205) may include any type and form of interfaces for receiving,obtaining, providing or otherwise accessing any information and datarelated to network communications of the client 102. In one embodiment,an interface to the network stack 267 includes an applicationprogramming interface (API). The interface may also have any functioncall, hooking or filtering mechanism, event or call back mechanism, orany type of interfacing technique. The network stack 267 via theinterface may receive or provide any type and form of data structure,such as an object, related to functionality or operation of the networkstack 267. For example, the data structure may include information anddata related to a network packet or one or more network packets. In someembodiments, the data structure includes, references or identifies aportion of the network packet processed at a protocol layer of thenetwork stack 267, such as a network packet of the transport layer. Insome embodiments, the data structure 325 is a kernel-level datastructure, while in other embodiments the data structure 325 is auser-mode data structure. A kernel-level data structure may have a datastructure obtained or related to a portion of the network stack 267operating in kernel-mode 302, or a network driver or other softwarerunning in kernel-mode 302, or any data structure obtained or receivedby a service, process, task, thread or other executable instructionsrunning or operating in kernel-mode of the operating system.

Additionally, some portions of the network stack 267 may execute oroperate in kernel-mode 302, for example, the data link or network layer,while other portions execute or operate in user-mode 303, such as anapplication layer of the network stack 267. For example, a first portion310 a of the network stack may provide user-mode access to the networkstack 267 to an application while a second portion 310 a of the networkstack 267 provides access to a network. In some embodiments, a firstportion 310 a of the network stack has one or more upper layers of thenetwork stack 267, such as any of layers 5-7. In other embodiments, asecond portion 310 b of the network stack 267 includes one or more lowerlayers, such as any of layers 1-4. Each of the first portion 310 a andsecond portion 310 b of the network stack 267 may include any portion ofthe network stack 267, at any one or more network layers, in user-mode303, kernel-mode, 302, or combinations thereof, or at any portion of anetwork layer or interface point to a network layer or any portion of orinterface point to the user-mode 302 and kernel-mode 203.

The interceptor 350 may include software, hardware, or any combinationof software and hardware. In one embodiment, the interceptor 350intercepts or otherwise receives a network communication at any point inthe network stack 267, and redirects or transmits the networkcommunication to a destination desired, managed or controlled by theinterceptor 350 or client agent 120. For example, the interceptor 350may intercept a network communication of a network stack 267 of a firstnetwork and transmit the network communication to the appliance 200 fortransmission on a second network 104. In some embodiments, theinterceptor 350 includes or is a driver, such as a network driverconstructed and designed to interface and work with the network stack267. In some embodiments, the client agent 120 and/or interceptor 350operates at one or more layers of the network stack 267, such as at thetransport layer. In one embodiment, the interceptor 350 includes afilter driver, hooking mechanism, or any form and type of suitablenetwork driver interface that interfaces to the transport layer of thenetwork stack, such as via the transport driver interface (TDI). In someembodiments, the interceptor 350 interfaces to a first protocol layer,such as the transport layer and another protocol layer, such as anylayer above the transport protocol layer, for example, an applicationprotocol layer. In one embodiment, the interceptor 350 includes a drivercomplying with the Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS), or aNDIS driver. In another embodiment, the interceptor 350 may be amin-filter or a mini-port driver. In one embodiment, the interceptor350, or portion thereof, operates in kernel-mode 202. In anotherembodiment, the interceptor 350, or portion thereof, operates inuser-mode 203. In some embodiments, a portion of the interceptor 350operates in kernel-mode 202 while another portion of the interceptor 350operates in user-mode 203. In other embodiments, the client agent 120operates in user-mode 203 but interfaces via the interceptor 350 to akernel-mode driver, process, service, task or portion of the operatingsystem, such as to obtain a kernel-level data structure 225. In furtherembodiments, the interceptor 350 is a user-mode application or program,such as application.

In one embodiment, the interceptor 350 intercepts or receives anytransport layer connection requests. In these embodiments, theinterceptor 350 executes transport layer application programminginterface (API) calls to set the destination information, such asdestination IP address and/or port to a desired location for thelocation. In this manner, the interceptor 350 intercepts and redirectsthe transport layer connection to an IP address and port controlled ormanaged by the interceptor 350 or client agent 120. In one embodiment,the interceptor 350 sets the destination information for the connectionto a local IP address and port of the client 102 on which the clientagent 120 is listening. For example, the client agent 120 may comprise aproxy service listening on a local IP address and port for redirectedtransport layer communications. In some embodiments, the client agent120 then communicates the redirected transport layer communication tothe appliance 200.

In some embodiments, the interceptor 350 intercepts a Domain NameService (DNS) request. In one embodiment, the client agent 120 and/orinterceptor 350 resolves the DNS request. In another embodiment, theinterceptor transmits the intercepted DNS request to the appliance 200for DNS resolution. In one embodiment, the appliance 200 resolves theDNS request and communicates the DNS response to the client agent 120.In some embodiments, the appliance 200 resolves the DNS request viaanother appliance 200′ or a DNS server 106.

In yet another embodiment, the client agent 120 may include two agents120 and 120′. In one embodiment, a first agent 120 may include aninterceptor 350 operating at the network layer of the network stack 267.In some embodiments, the first agent 120 intercepts network layerrequests such as Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) requests(e.g., ping and traceroute). In other embodiments, the second agent 120′may operate at the transport layer and intercept transport layercommunications. In some embodiments, the first agent 120 interceptscommunications at one layer of the network stack 210 and interfaces withor communicates the intercepted communication to the second agent 120′.

The client agent 120 and/or interceptor 350 may operate at or interfacewith a protocol layer in a manner transparent to any other protocollayer of the network stack 267. For example, in one embodiment, theinterceptor 350 operates or interfaces with the transport layer of thenetwork stack 267 transparently to any protocol layer below thetransport layer, such as the network layer, and any protocol layer abovethe transport layer, such as the session, presentation or applicationlayer protocols. This allows the other protocol layers of the networkstack 267 to operate as desired and without modification for using theinterceptor 350. As such, the client agent 120 and/or interceptor 350can interface with the transport layer to secure, optimize, accelerate,route or load-balance any communications provided via any protocolcarried by the transport layer, such as any application layer protocolover TCP/IP.

Furthermore, the client agent 120 and/or interceptor 350 may operate ator interface with the network stack 267 in a manner transparent to anyapplication, a user of the client 102, the client 102 and/or any othercomputing device 100, such as a server or appliance 200, 206, incommunications with the client 102. The client agent 120, or any portionthereof, may be installed and/or executed on the client 102 in a mannerwithout modification of an application. In one embodiment, the clientagent 120, or any portion thereof, is installed and/or executed in amanner transparent to any network configuration of the client 102,appliance 200, 205 or server 106. In some embodiments, the client agent120, or any portion thereof, is installed and/or executed withmodification to any network configuration of the client 102, appliance200, 205 or server 106. In one embodiment, the user of the client 102 ora computing device in communications with the client 102 are not awareof the existence, execution or operation of the client agent 12, or anyportion thereof. As such, in some embodiments, the client agent 120and/or interceptor 350 is installed, executed, and/or operatedtransparently to an application, user of the client 102, the client 102,another computing device, such as a server or appliance 200, 2005, orany of the protocol layers above and/or below the protocol layerinterfaced to by the interceptor 350.

The client agent 120 includes a streaming client 306, a collection agent304, an SSL VPN agent 308, a network optimization engine 250, anacceleration agent 312 and/or, a monitoring agent 297. In oneembodiment, the client agent 120 is an Independent ComputingArchitecture (ICA) client, or any portion thereof, developed by CitrixSystems, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and is also referred to as anICA client. In some embodiments, the client agent 120 has an applicationstreaming client 306 for streaming an application from a server 106 to aclient 102. In another embodiment, the client agent 120 includes acollection agent 304 for performing end-point detection/scanning andcollecting end-point information for the appliance 200 and/or server106. In some embodiments, the client agent 120 has one or more networkaccelerating or optimizing programs or agents, such as a networkoptimization engine 250 and an acceleration program 312. In oneembodiment, the acceleration program 312 accelerates communicationsbetween client 102 and server 106 via appliance 205′. In someembodiments, the network optimization engine 250 provides WANoptimization techniques as discussed herein.

The streaming client 306 is an application, program, process, service,task or set of executable instructions for receiving and executing astreamed application from a server 106. A server 106 may stream one ormore application data files to the streaming client 306 for playing,executing or otherwise causing to be executed the application on theclient 102. In some embodiments, the server 106 transmits a set ofcompressed or packaged application data files to the streaming client306. In some embodiments, the plurality of application files arecompressed and stored on a file server within an archive file such as aCAB, ZIP, SIT, TAR, JAR or other archive. In one embodiment, the server106 decompresses, unpackages or unarchives the application files andtransmits the files to the client 102. In another embodiment, the client102 decompresses, unpackages or unarchives the application files. Thestreaming client 306 dynamically installs the application, or portionthereof, and executes the application. In one embodiment, the streamingclient 306 may be an executable program. In some embodiments, thestreaming client 306 may be able to launch another executable program.

The collection agent 304 is an application, program, process, service,task or set of executable instructions for identifying, obtaining and/orcollecting information about the client 102. In some embodiments, theappliance 200 transmits the collection agent 304 to the client 102 orclient agent 120. The collection agent 304 may be configured accordingto one or more policies of the policy engine 236 of the appliance. Inother embodiments, the collection agent 304 transmits collectedinformation on the client 102 to the appliance 200. In one embodiment,the policy engine 236 of the appliance 200 uses the collectedinformation to determine and provide access, authentication andauthorization control of the client's connection to a network 104.

In one embodiment, the collection agent 304 is an end-point detectionand scanning program, which identifies and determines one or moreattributes or characteristics of the client. For example, the collectionagent 304 may identify and determine any one or more of the followingclient-side attributes: 1) the operating system an/or a version of anoperating system, 2) a service pack of the operating system, 3) arunning service, 4) a running process, and 5) a file. The collectionagent 304 may also identify and determine the presence or version of anyone or more of the following on the client: 1) antivirus software, 2)personal firewall software, 3) anti-spam software, and 4) internetsecurity software. The policy engine 236 may have one or more policiesbased on any one or more of the attributes or characteristics of theclient or client-side attributes.

The SSL VPN agent 308 is an application, program, process, service, taskor set of executable instructions for establishing a Secure Socket Layer(SSL) virtual private network (VPN) connection from a first network 104to a second network 104′, 104″, or a SSL VPN connection from a client102 to a server 106. In one embodiment, the SSL VPN agent 308establishes a SSL VPN connection from a public network 104 to a privatenetwork 104′ or 104″. In some embodiments, the SSL VPN agent 308 worksin conjunction with appliance 205 to provide the SSL VPN connection. Inone embodiment, the SSL VPN agent 308 establishes a first transportlayer connection with appliance 205. In some embodiment, the appliance205 establishes a second transport layer connection with a server 106.In another embodiment, the SSL VPN agent 308 establishes a firsttransport layer connection with an application on the client, and asecond transport layer connection with the appliance 205. In otherembodiments, the SSL VPN agent 308 works in conjunction with WANoptimization appliance 200 to provide SSL VPN connectivity.

In some embodiments, the acceleration program 312 is a client-sideacceleration program for performing one or more acceleration techniquesto accelerate, enhance or otherwise improve a client's communicationswith and/or access to a server 106, such as accessing an applicationprovided by a server 106. The logic, functions, and/or operations of theexecutable instructions of the acceleration program 312 may perform oneor more of the following acceleration techniques: 1) multi-protocolcompression, 2) transport control protocol pooling, 3) transport controlprotocol multiplexing, 4) transport control protocol buffering, and 5)caching via a cache manager. Additionally, the acceleration program 312may perform encryption and/or decryption of any communications receivedand/or transmitted by the client 102. In some embodiments, theacceleration program 312 performs one or more of the accelerationtechniques in an integrated manner or fashion. Additionally, theacceleration program 312 can perform compression on any of theprotocols, or multiple-protocols, carried as a payload of a networkpacket of the transport layer protocol.

In one embodiment, the acceleration program 312 is designed, constructedor configured to work with appliance 205 to provide LAN sideacceleration or to provide acceleration techniques provided viaappliance 205. For example, in one embodiment of a NETSCALER appliance205 manufactured by Citrix Systems, Inc., the acceleration program 312includes a NETSCALER client. In some embodiments, the accelerationprogram 312 provides NETSCALER acceleration techniques stand-alone in aremote device, such as in a branch office. In other embodiments, theacceleration program 312 works in conjunction with one or more NETSCALERappliances 205. In one embodiment, the acceleration program 312 providesLAN-side or LAN based acceleration or optimization of network traffic.

In some embodiments, the network optimization engine 250 may bedesigned, constructed or configured to work with WAN optimizationappliance 200. In other embodiments, network optimization engine 250 maybe designed, constructed or configured to provide the WAN optimizationtechniques of appliance 200, with or without an appliance 200. Forexample, in one embodiment of a WANScaler appliance 200 manufactured byCitrix Systems, Inc. the network optimization engine 250 includes theWANscaler client. In some embodiments, the network optimization engine250 provides WANScaler acceleration techniques stand-alone in a remotelocation, such as a branch office. In other embodiments, the networkoptimization engine 250 works in conjunction with one or more WANScalerappliances 200.

In another embodiment, the network optimization engine 250 includes theacceleration program 312, or the function, operations and logic of theacceleration program 312. In some embodiments, the acceleration program312 includes the network optimization engine 250 or the function,operations and logic of the network optimization engine 250. In yetanother embodiment, the network optimization engine 250 is provided orinstalled as a separate program or set of executable instructions fromthe acceleration program 312. In other embodiments, the networkoptimization engine 250 and acceleration program 312 are included in thesame program or same set of executable instructions.

In some embodiments and still referring to FIG. 3, a first program 322may be used to install and/or execute the client agent 120, or anyportion thereof, automatically, silently, transparently, or otherwise.In one embodiment, the first program 322 is a plug-in component, such anActiveX control or Java control or script that is loaded into andexecuted by an application. For example, the first program comprises anActiveX control loaded and run by a web browser application, such as inthe memory space or context of the application. In another embodiment,the first program 322 comprises a set of executable instructions loadedinto and run by the application, such as a browser. In one embodiment,the first program 322 is designed and constructed program to install theclient agent 120. In some embodiments, the first program 322 obtains,downloads, or receives the client agent 120 via the network from anothercomputing device. In another embodiment, the first program 322 is aninstaller program or a plug and play manager for installing programs,such as network drivers and the client agent 120, or any portionthereof, on the operating system of the client 102.

In some embodiments, each or any of the portions of the client agent120—a streaming client 306, a collection agent 304, SSL VPN agent 308, anetwork optimization engine 250, acceleration program 312, andinterceptor 350—may be installed, executed, configured or operated as aseparate application, program, process, service, task or set ofexecutable instructions. In other embodiments, each or any of theportions of the client agent 120 may be installed, executed, configuredor operated together as a single client agent 120.

Referring now to FIG. 4A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem in which a plurality of networks provide hosting and deliveryservices. In brief overview, the system includes a data center 404, acloud services and hosting infrastructure 406, and an enterpriseinformation technology (IT) network 408.

In one embodiment, the data center 404 provides access to applicationsrelated to core business and operational data for an organization. Inanother embodiment, the data center 404 includes computing devices suchas, without limitation, servers (including, for example, applicationservers, file servers, databases, and backup servers), routers,switches, and telecommunications equipment. In still another embodiment,the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 provides access to,without limitation, storage systems, databases, application servers,desktop servers, directory services, and web servers. In still evenanother embodiment, the enterprise IT network 408 may also be referredto as an on-premise network or end-user network. In some embodiments,the enterprise IT network 104 c may provide local services, such as mailservices and web services. In other embodiments, the enterprise ITnetwork 104 c may provide local versions of remotely located services,such as locally-cached versions of remotely-located print servers,databases, application servers, desktop servers, directory services, andweb servers. In still other embodiments, the enterprise IT network 104 cprovides functionality allowing remotely located users to accessservices provided by the enterprise IT network 104 c; for example, auser accessing a computer on a network 104 d may connect to anapplication server in the network 104 c to access enterprise resources.

As depicted in FIG. 4A, in some embodiments, the data center 404 and thecloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 are remotely located froman organization supported by the data center 404 and the cloud servicesand hosting infrastructure 406; for example, the data center 404 mayreside on a first network 104 a and the cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406 may reside on a second network 104 b, while theenterprise IT network 408 is a separate, third network 104 c. In otherembodiments, the data center 404 and the cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406 reside on a first network 104 a and the enterprise ITnetwork 408 is a separate, second network 104 c. In still otherembodiments, the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 resideson a first network 104 a while the data center 404 and the enterprise ITnetwork 408 form a second network 104 c. Although FIG. 4A depicts onlyone sever 106 a, one server 106 b, one server 106 c, two clients 102,and three networks 104, it should be understood that the system mayprovide multiple ones of any or each or none of those components. Forexample, in some embodiments, there may be either a data center 404 oran enterprise IT network 408. The servers 106, clients 102, and networks104 may be provided as described above in connection with FIGS. 1A-3.

In one embodiment, the system includes facilities and hardware residingin a data center 404 and provided by hosting providers. In anotherembodiment, the system includes at least one server providingvirtualization and hypervisor functionality and residing in the cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406; a virtualization and hypervisorprovider may provide such a server. In still another embodiment, thesystem includes at least one server providing functionality forexecuting virtual machines, the server residing in the cloud servicesand hosting infrastructure 406; a backbone hosting service provider mayprovide such a server. In yet another embodiment, additional servers mayreside in the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 and beprovided by other service providers including, without limitation,infrastructure service providers, application service providers,platform service providers, tools service providers, and desktop serviceproviders.

In one embodiment, an IT infrastructure may extend from a firstnetwork—such as a network owned and managed by an enterprise—into asecond network, which may be owned or managed by a separate entity thanthe entity owning or managing the first network. Resources provided bythe second network may be said to be “in a cloud”. Cloud-residentelements may include, without limitation, storage devices, servers,databases, computing environments (including virtual machines anddesktops), and applications. In other embodiments, one or more networksproviding computing infrastructure on behalf of customers is referred toa cloud. In one of these embodiments, a system in which users of a firstnetwork access at least a second network including a pool of abstracted,scalable, and managed computing resources capable of hosting userresources may be referred to as a cloud computing environment. Inanother of these embodiments, resources may include, without limitation,virtualization technology, data center resources, applications, andmanagement tools. In some embodiments, Internet-based applications(which may be provided via a “software-as-a-service” model) may bereferred to as cloud-based resources. In other embodiments, networksthat provide users with computing resources, such as virtual machines orblades on blade servers, may be referred to as compute clouds. In stillother embodiments, networks that provide storage resources, such asstorage area networks, may be referred to as storage clouds. In furtherembodiments, a resource may be cached in a local network and stored in acloud.

In one embodiment, by way of example, a first machine 106 b on a firstnetwork 104 b may store a virtual machine image and a second machine 106c on a second network 104 c may retrieve a copy of the virtual machineimage and cache it locally to provide enhanced functionality, such asredundancy or improved performance. In such an embodiment, the virtualmachine image may be stored in a location remote from a user who willexecute the virtual machine (the virtual machine may be said to bestored at a location “in the cloud”).

Referring now to FIG. 4B, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem for bridging a plurality of networks, one of which providescomputing and storage functionality. As noted above, in someembodiments, the systems described above are used to deliver files,applications, desktops, computing environments, or other data from onemachine to another. In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402includes functionality for delivering this data in situations where thesupporting information technology (IT) infrastructure extends from afirst network into one or more other networks.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes functionalityfor provisioning, delivering, accelerating delivery, caching, and/orexecuting resources stored on one or more networks. In anotherembodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 provides accelerated access tocloud-resident data. In still another embodiment, implementing the cloudbridge server 402 provides support for labs and staging environments. Instill even another embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 providesfunctionality for managing virtual machine life cycles. In yet anotherembodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 provides disaster tolerancefunctionality, disaster recovery functionality, and functionality fordeploying additional computational or storage capacity on demand. Forexample, the cloud bridge server 402 may provide capacity on demandfunctionality via an interface that allows an administrator to executeor terminate execution of additional virtual machines as needed. Asanother example, the cloud bridge server 402 may provide capacity ondemand functionality via utilities that allow an administrator to importor export virtual machine images, such as those stored in compliancewith a standard such as an Open Virtualization Format. In someembodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 provides a second site forstoring data; such a second site may provide disaster tolerancefunctionality.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a migrationautomation utility. In another embodiment, the migration automationutility includes an interface allowing a user to request migration ofresources to and from a remote network or other location in a cloud. Instill another embodiment, the migration automation utility provides asecure connection between the cloud services and hosting infrastructure406 and the enterprise IT network 408. In yet another embodiment, themigration automation utility provides an interface allowing a user toload balance one or more resources.

In one embodiment, the migration automation utility includes aninterface allowing a user to migrate existing infrastructure in a firstnetwork to a second network; for example the interface may allow a user,such as an administrator, to migrate existing virtualizationinfrastructure to a cloud services and hosting infrastructure in anetwork 104 b or from a first cloud services and hosting infrastructure406 a to a second cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 b eitheron the same network 104 b or on different networks 104. In anotherembodiment, and by way of example, the interface may include elementsallowing a user to migrate functionality from a cloud services andhosting infrastructure 406 to an enterprise IT network 408. In stillanother embodiment, by implementing an automation utility, the cloudbridge server 402 provides zero-touch management for a user at anenterprise IT network 104 c; such an implementation may result in loweroperating expenses for users. In some embodiments, the cloud bridgeserver 402 includes management capabilities including, withoutlimitation, application-based configuration, configuration changemanagement process support, and monitoring and workflow integration.

In some embodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 is in communicationwith a system for adaptively load balancing user sessions to reduceenergy consumption. In one of these embodiments, the migrationautomation utility is in communication with such a system. In another ofthese embodiments, a load balancing component of the cloud bridge server402 is in communication with such a system. In still another of theseembodiments, such a system includes a power management consoleidentifying a session type for each of a plurality of user sessions,defining a server group providing access to a subset of the plurality ofuser sessions having a common session type, and defining a powermanagement schedule for the server group; the system may also include apower management controller consolidating, onto at least one server inthe server group, the subset of the plurality of user sessions. In otherembodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 is in communication with asystem for reducing energy consumption by dynamically managing powermodes for a plurality of servers includes a power management agentmonitoring a level of load on one of the plurality of servers. In one ofthese embodiments, the system includes a power management console, incommunication with the power management agent, defining a powermanagement schedule for the one of the plurality of servers, the powermanagement schedule generated responsive to the monitored level of load.In another of these embodiments, the system includes a power managementcontroller, in communication with the power management console and thepower management agent, dynamically controlling a level of power to theone of the plurality of servers, responsive to the power managementschedule. In further embodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 is incommunication with systems such as those described in connection withFIGS. 12-18 below.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes functionalityproviding resilient virtual machine storage. In another embodiment, thecloud bridge server 402 provides functionality for accelerating deliveryof applications, computing environments, virtual machine images andother resources or user data. In still another embodiment, the cloudbridge server 402 includes a resource delivery component that streamsapplications, desktops, computing environments, virtual machines, andother resources to an end-user network 104 c. In yet another embodiment,the cloud bridge server 402 includes functionality for providingdial-tone services.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 implements functionalityaccessed by end users who are charged for the resources they use; suchan embodiment may be referred to as a “pay-as-you-go” system. In anotherembodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes an agent monitoring theuse of a hypervisor 161 by a user, generating use metrics, andidentifying an amount to charge the user. In still another of theseembodiments, the agent monitors use of physical resources such asstorage, network bandwidth central processing unit (CPU) utilization,and disk utilization.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 provides a file repeaterfor accelerated input/output completion. In another embodiment, thecloud bridge server 402 provides a block repeater for acceleratedinput/output completion. In still another embodiment, the cloud bridgeserver 402 provides functionality for removing, from a cloud servicesand hosting infrastructure 406, files or blocks also stored on theenterprise IT network 408.

In some embodiments, the systems described herein provide functionalityfor replicating storage. In one of these embodiments, such functionalityprovides fast application input/output completion, efficientde-duplication across network, resilient disaster tolerant remotestorage, network disconnected operation, application and dataacceleration, acceleration of input/output from virtual machines to astorage repeater, and aggregate common access and security across cloudservice providers.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a branchrepeater for caching files, applications, computing environments,virtual machines, and other data. In another embodiment, the cloudbridge server 402 is in communication with an appliance 200 as describedabove in connection with FIGS. 1F-3. In still another embodiment, thecloud bridge server 402 is an appliance 200.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 provides a virtualizationserver 410. In another embodiment, the virtualization server 410provides access to at least one virtual machine. In still anotherembodiment, the at least one virtual machine provides access to anenterprise service, including, without limitation, printing services,directory services (including a replicated MICROSOFT ACTIVE DIRECTORYdatabase), and other services. In yet another embodiment, the cloudbridge server 402 is in communication with an appliance, such as anoptimization device 200, and implements the methods and systemsdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 1F-3 to optimize the deliveryof resources to the enterprise IT network 408. In some embodiments, thecloud bridge server 402 provides functionality for centralizedmanagement of virtual machines. In other embodiments, an optimizationdecision is made to determine whether to execute a service from thecloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 or from the enterprise ITnetwork 408.

In some embodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 provides support foroptimization, caching, or compression of applications based on eXtendedMarkup Language (XML). In one of these embodiments, the cloud bridgeserver 402 provides binary XML support. In another of these embodiments,the cloud bridge server 402 includes functionality for load balancingXML content. In still another of these embodiments, the cloud bridgeserver 402 includes functionality for content switching and routing ofdynamic XML content.

In other embodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 provides support forprotocols supporting web-based communities, hosted services, andresources leveraging lightweight business models enabled by syndicationof content and of service. In further embodiments, the cloud bridgeserver 402 provides support for optimization, caching, or compression ofresources leveraging the Internet to allow user participation andcontribution to content and other applications which may be referred toas “Web 2.0” or “Web 3.0”; including, for example, and withoutlimitation, social-networking sites, media-sharing sites, multi-mediasharing, voice over the internet, peer-to-peer communication, wikis,blogs, location-based applications and user-generated taxonomies.

In some embodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 provides functionalityto extend security capabilities. In one of these embodiments, the cloudbridge server 402 integrates with enterprise identity and accessmanagement (IAM) systems (e.g., OpenID). In another of theseembodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 provides fine-grained accesscontrol for web services. In still another of these embodiments, thecloud bridge server 402 extends XML processing capabilities (e.g., toprotect leakage of privacy data (HIPAA) and for threat defense.

In some embodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a securitymanager. In one of these embodiments, the security manager providesfunctionality for encrypting virtual machines. In another of theseembodiments, the security manager provides functionality for encryptingboot sectors of virtual machines. In still another of these embodiments,the security manager provides functionality for enforcement of policiesrelated to virtual machine lifetimes. In still even another of theseembodiments, the security manager provides functionality for enforcementof policies related to virtual machine runtimes. In another of theseembodiments, the security manager provides functionality for enforcementof policies related to user updates. In yet another of theseembodiments, the security manager provides functionality for static ordynamic checks on virtual machine security.

In some embodiments, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a plurality ofmanagement agents allowing users, such as administrators, to manage aplurality of physical machines, storage resources, and peripheraldevices, supporting the storage, provisioning, delivery, and executionof virtual machines on at least one of the enterprise IT network 408 andthe cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406. In one of theseembodiments, the management agents may include, without limitation, atleast one of a storage manager, a virtualization manager, anavailability manager, a dynamic workload manager, and a lifecyclemanager.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a storagemanager allowing for the provisioning and management of storageresources. In another embodiment, the storage manager providescentralized functionality for automated provisioning of virtualmachines, generating snapshots of virtual machines, cloning virtualmachines, providing data backup of virtual machines, and providingdisaster recovery for virtual machines. In still another embodiment, thestorage manager provides a general purpose, high-speed virtual storageinfrastructure. In yet another embodiment, the storage manager allowsformat-independence between a storage resources (such as, for example, anetwork attached storage or a storage area network) and a virtualmachine image (which may be, for example, in an ISO or VHD format).

In one embodiment, the storage manager provides functionality to managevirtual machine images stored on a plurality of cloud services andhosting infrastructures 406. In another embodiment, the storage manageron the cloud bridge server 402 provides interface adaptation. In stillanother embodiment, the storage manager provides functionality forcaching remotely stored virtual machine images on the enterprise ITnetwork 408. In yet another embodiment, the storage manager providesfunctionality for provisioning, configuring, and de-provisioning storageresources. In some embodiments, functionality for managing storageresources is described in greater detail below in connection with FIGS.6A-9.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a virtualizationmanager for management of a pool of virtualization resources. In anotherembodiment, the virtualization manager includes a management toolallowing a user, such as an administrator, to manage a plurality ofphysical machines supporting execution of a plurality of virtualmachines across a plurality of networks. In such an embodiment, theplurality of physical machines may be referred to as a pool.

In one environment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes an availabilitymanager including functionality allowing an administrator to identify atleast one of a cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 and theenterprise IT network 408 for execution of a resource. In anotherembodiment, such functionality allows, for example, an administrator toswitch execution of the resource from the enterprise IT network 408 tothe cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 providing highavailability, fail over, and disaster recovery. In still anotherembodiment, the availability manager includes functionality forautomated, policy-controlled deployment of resources; for example, theavailability manager may include an interface allowing the administratorto specify when the enterprise IT network 408 will provide access to aresource and when the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 willprovide the access.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a dynamicworkload manager allowing an administrator to select a physical host forexecution of a virtual machine, the physical host residing in a cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406. In another embodiment,execution of a virtual machine is referred to as a workload. In stillanother embodiment, execution of a virtual appliance specified accordingto a standard, such as the Open Virtualization Format standard, isreferred to as a workload. In yet another embodiment, a unit of work isreferred to as a workload; such a unit of work may be separable fromother workloads with clear deployment boundaries.

In one embodiment, a set of foundation services needed by an applicationor set of applications to execute is referred to as a workload. Inanother embodiment, a plurality of virtual machines is referred to as aworkload. In still another embodiment, a workload is at least one of: aset of applications, a set of application services, a set ofinfrastructure services, and a set of application services.

In one embodiment, dynamic workload management refers to functionalityallowing execution or migration of virtual machines responsive tostimuli, such as user requests, changes in server utilization, orchanges in server availability. In another embodiment, the dynamicworkload manager provides policy-based control of a virtualized datacenter infrastructure. In still another embodiment, the dynamic workloadmanager provides automated control of a virtualized data centerinfrastructure managed in accordance with a service level agreement. Inyet another embodiment, the dynamic workload manager provides balancingand optimization of workloads across a plurality of physical hosts. Insome embodiments, the dynamic workload manager includes functionalitysuch as that described in greater detail below, in connection with FIGS.10-11.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 includes a lifecyclemanager allowing an administrator to provision and manage virtualresources. In another embodiment, the lifecycle manager providesautomated management of an application and workload lifecycle, fromcreation through testing, staging, and updating. In still anotherembodiment, the lifecycle manager facilitates management of at least oneprocess in an application or workload lifecycle on at least one of theenterprise IT network 408 (for example, for lab management) and thecloud services and hosting infrastructure 406.

Referring now to FIG. 5A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem in which a cloud services and hosting infrastructure hosts atleast one service on behalf of an enterprise information technologynetwork. As shown in FIG. 5A, an administrator may identify at least oneenterprise service—such as, for example, file storage, mail services, orbrowser-based collaboration and document-management platform—and arrangefor a cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 to host theidentified at least one enterprise service. In one embodiment, a virtuallocal area network (VLAN) is defined that is accessible via a devicesuch as an SSL VPN. In another embodiment, a virtual machine on thecloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 may provide access to theidentified at least one enterprise service. In still another embodiment,an administrator of the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406provides an administrator of the enterprise IT network 408 with accessto at least one physical host 100 executing a hypervisor 161 and theadministrator of the enterprise IT network 408 specifies what services avirtual machine executed by the hypervisor 161 provides for users of theenterprise IT network 408. In some embodiments, the administrator of theenterprise IT network 408 may deploy an appliance 200 as described abovein connection with FIGS. 1F-3.

Referring now to FIG. 5B, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem in which an enterprise IT network 408 includes a premise cacheserver. In one embodiment, the enterprise IT network 408 includes thesystems described above in connection with FIGS. 1F-3.

Referring now to FIG. 5C, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem in which an enterprise IT network 408 includes a premise cacheserver and a cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 includes aresource server. In one embodiment, the enterprise IT network 408includes the systems described above in connection with FIGS. 1F-3. Inanother embodiment, the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406includes a resource server executing resources and transmitting resourceoutput data to end users. In still another embodiment, the cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406 includes a resource serverstoring resources and transmitting the resources to end users viasystems and methods for application streaming. In yet anotherembodiment, the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 includes aresource server executing a virtual machine which executes a resourcesand transmits resource output data to end users. In some embodiments,the enterprise IT network 408 includes at least one server providinglocal access to enterprise services, such as mail or web services.

Referring now to FIG. 5D, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem in which at least one of an enterprise IT network 408 and a cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406 include a resource serverproviding end users with access to resources such as desktops. In oneembodiment, the enterprise IT network 408 delivers resources to endusers. In another embodiment, the cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406 delivers resources to end users. In still anotherembodiment, the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 mayinclude functionality allowing a user to select a resource forexecution; for example, the cloud services and hosting infrastructure406 may transmit an enumeration of available resources to a computingdevice 102 that displays the enumeration to a user who selects one ofthe enumerated resources for execution. In still another embodiment, thecloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 may deliver resources toprovide additional capacity to the enterprise IT network 408; forexample, an enterprise IT network 408 may deliver resources by defaultbut, in the event of a scenario in which the enterprise IT network 408resource servers lack the capacity to deliver additional resources, thecloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 may deliver the resourcesto alleviate a temporary shortage.

In one embodiment, the cloud bridge server 402 allows consolidationacross an enterprise IT network 408 to improve server utilization, loweroperating expense, improve disaster tolerance, tighten security, andcompliance when providing server virtualization. In another embodiment,accessing applications remotely may increase demand for acceleratedapplication delivery services. In some embodiments, implementation ofthe methods and systems described herein provide functionality fordelivering operating systems, server virtualization services andapplications independent of location and device to fulfill this need.

In other embodiments, implementation of the methods and systemsdescribed herein addresses needs that may arise in consolidatingapplication services in a data center or hosting them in the cloud. Inone of these embodiments, a “virtual office appliance” is provided thatruns virtual machine appliances locally to provide a subset of servicesfor users in a branch or remote office. In another of these embodiments,a “virtual office” includes a plurality of servers (one of which mayprovide failover functionality), executing a virtualization system (suchas a hypervisor and control operating system 165). In still another ofthese embodiments, the “virtual office” servers execute services andworkflows that integrate/leverage functionality—such as that describedabove in connection with FIGS. 1F-3—to cache and run virtual machineappliances locally. In some embodiments, virtual machine images areimages from which a hypervisor may execute a virtual machine. In one ofthese embodiments, a virtual machine image may be in compliance with astandard, such as the Open Virtualization Format standard, the VMWAREVirtual Machine Disk Format (VMDK), a Virtual Hard Drive format (VHD),or other format.

In some embodiments, a virtual machine may be provisioned, hosted, orstored in a location in a cloud, such as a cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406. In one of these embodiments, the virtual machine maybe cached to a server residing in the enterprise IT network 408 andexecuted from the enterprise IT network 408. In another of theseembodiments, a user accessing such a virtual machine may have animproved experience due mitigated network disruption. In still anotherof these embodiments, such execution may leverage computational power ofthe enterprise IT network 408.

Referring still to FIG. 5D, the cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406 may execute a resource server 106 b that providesaccess to, for example, presentation services, resource delivery, orvirtual machines executing resources on behalf of machines in theenterprise IT network 408. In one of these embodiments, the cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406 server 106 b is in communicationwith a resource server 106 c in the enterprise IT network 408 (which maybe, for example, a print server, web server, or file server). In such anembodiment, a user accessing a resource via the cloud-based server 106 bmay also access data residing on a server 106 c in the enterprise ITnetwork 408. In another of these embodiments, an appliance—such as theappliance 200 described above in connection with FIGS. 1F-3—providesacceleration of data transmitted between the cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406 and the enterprise IT network 408. In still anotherof these embodiments, an appliance—which may be the same appliance 200or another appliance—provides functionality for securing communicationsbetween the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 and theenterprise IT network 408. In some embodiments, a plurality of resourceservers 106 b provide access to the resources. In one of theseembodiments, for example, a farm of resource servers provides accessmachines in the enterprise IT network 408 with access to resources.

In one embodiment, a server 106 b in the cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406 establishes a trust relationship with a server 106 cin the enterprise IT network 408; for example, the servers may use aMICROSOFT ACTIVE DIRECTORY service to establish the trust relationship.In another embodiment, a server 106 b in the enterprise IT network 408establishes a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection with the server106 c in the enterprise IT network 408. In some embodiments, a systemsuch as the AMAZON ELASTIC COMPUTE CLOUD may provide the server 106 b,which may be configured according to an AMAZON Machine Imagespecification. In other embodiments, a system such as the systemsprovided by SoftLayer Technologies, Inc., of Plano, Tex., may providethe server 106 b.

In one embodiment, a server 106 b in the cloud services and hostinginfrastructure 406 establishes a trust relationship with a server 106 cin the enterprise IT network 408. In another embodiment, the server 106b establishes a tunnel from a virtual machine executing in the cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406 to a machine executing in theenterprise IT network 408; the tunnel may, for example, supportconcurrent user sessions from the machine executing in the enterprise ITnetwork 408.

In some embodiments, a client agent on the server 106 c (residing in theenterprise IT network 408) executes when a first user connects and isauthenticated. In one of these embodiments, a tunnel is automaticallycreated between the client agent and the server 106 b by the clientagent. In another of these embodiments, when a second user connects, thesecond user receives access to the server via the same tunnelestablished when the first user connected. In still another of theseembodiments, the client agent determines that a tunnel has already beenestablished when the second user connects. In other embodiments, aclient agent on the server 106 b (residing in the cloud services andhosting infrastructure 406) executes when a first user, such as anadministrator, connects and is authenticated. In one of theseembodiments, a tunnel is created between the client agent and the server106 b. In another of these embodiments, when a second user connects, thesecond user receives access to the server via the same tunnelestablished when the first user connected. In still another of theseembodiments, the client agent determines that a tunnel has already beenestablished when the second user connects. In still other embodiments,establishment of site-to-site virtual private networks is provided,allowing machines in either the enterprise IT network 408 or the cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406 to initiate establishment of aconnection. In further embodiments, a computing device is configured toautomatically authenticate a user (such as an administrator) uponexecution of the computing device (for example, when it completes apower-on or boot-up cycle). In such embodiments, the first computingdevice boots up, authenticates a user, and executes a client agent,which automatically establishes a secure connect, such as a secure VPNtunnel, to a second computing device; the computing devices may be twoservers, two clients, or a client and a server and either machine mayestablish the connection.

In some embodiments, a separate domain is established in the cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406 for servers 106 b thatcommunicate with servers 106 c in the enterprise IT network 408. Inother embodiments, no separate domain is implemented. In still otherembodiments, at least one server 106 b residing in the cloud servicesand hosting infrastructure 406 establishes trust relationships and/orVPN sessions with a server 106 c in the enterprise IT network 408; sucha server may be referred to as a cloud domain controller. In furtherembodiments, an administrative tool stores credentials used to establishtrust relationships and/or VPN sessions.

In one embodiment, an administrative tool is provided to allow a user,such as an administrator, to initially provision a server 106 b. Inanother embodiment, a user identifies a number of servers to provision(such as a number of cloud domain controllers or a number of resourceservers 106 b). In still another embodiment, the administrative toolincludes an interface allowing a user to configure at least one server106 b. In yet another embodiment, the administrative tool includes aninterface allowing a user to provide configuration data associated withthe server 106 c in the enterprise IT network 408.

Referring now to FIG. 5E, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem including a cloud services and hosting infrastructure, a cloudsystem management interface 502, and a cloud system coordinationcomponent 504. In some embodiments, management of cloud servicesprovided by the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 on behalfof an enterprise IT network 408 include complex operations. In one ofthese embodiments, for example, operations may include multiplesequenced steps for a single server 106 b—such as, for example,instantiating a machine image, executing a machine based upon themachine image, provisioning at least one storage resource andassociating the provisioned at least one storage resource with theserver, and provisioning and associating an IP address with the server.In another of these embodiments, and as another example, operations mayinclude coordinated steps taken between multiple servers 106 b—such as,for example, executing a domain controller server, associating a userprofile store with the domain controller server, and instantiating atleast one resource server associated with the domain controller server.

In one embodiment, the cloud system coordination component 504 executeson a server 106 c in the enterprise IT network 408. In anotherembodiment, the cloud system coordination component 504 executes on aclient machine 102. In still another embodiment, the cloud systemcoordination component 504 executes on a server 106 c in the cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406. In yet another embodiment, thecloud system coordination component 504 provides functionality allowinga user to perform management operations in a cloud computingenvironment; for example, the cloud system coordination component 504includes functionality for performing the operations described in theexamples above. In some embodiments, the cloud system coordinationcomponent 504 and the cloud system management interface 502 are providedby the cloud bridge 402. In other embodiments, the cloud systemcoordination component 504 and the cloud system management interface 502are in communication with the cloud bridge 402.

In one embodiment, the cloud system management interface 502 provides aninterface allowing a user to interact with and execute functionalityprovided by the cloud system coordination component 504. In anotherembodiment, the cloud system management interface 502 is a graphicaluser interface. In still another embodiment, the cloud system managementinterface 502 is a tool such as the CITRIX WORKFLOW STUDIO tool. Instill even another embodiment, the cloud system management interface 502is a customized interface tool including interface elements allowingusers to start, stop, or monitor the health of a machine in a cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406. In yet another embodiment, thecloud system management interface 502 includes at least one script forexecuting functionality provided by the cloud system coordinationcomponent 504.

In some embodiments, a guest agent 506 is provided for execution on amachine in the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406. In one ofthese embodiments, the guest agent 506 provides a communication channelbetween the cloud system coordination component 504 and the machine inthe cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406. In another of theseembodiments, the guest agent 506 provides a control and monitoringchannel allowing the cloud system coordination component 504 to monitora machine in the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406. In stillanother of these embodiments, the guest agent 506 provides a control andmonitoring channel allowing the cloud system coordination component 504to control the execution of functionality provided by a machine in thecloud services and hosting infrastructure 406. In yet another of theseembodiments, a machine image for a machine in the cloud services andhosting infrastructure 406 may include a hooking mechanism that modifiesthe machine to allow execution of the guest agent 506 or to implementfunctionality on behalf of the guest agent 506.

In some embodiments, the guest agent 506 retrieves data or metadataduring instantiation of a machine image. In one of these embodiments,the cloud system coordination component 504 provides user data to amachine in the cloud services and hosting infrastructure 406 duringinstantiation of the machine image. In other embodiments, a scriptexecuting on behalf of the cloud system coordination component 504retrieves the data or metadata.

Referring back to FIG. 4B, and in some embodiments, a resource server106 c residing on the enterprise IT network 408 executes a virtualmachine that provides users with access to branch office services. Inone embodiment, a branch office service includes, without limitation, afile server, a print server, a telephony server providing IP-based phoneservices, and a web server. In another embodiment, a branch officeservice includes, without limitation, a network server such as a domainname server (DNS) or a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)server. In still another embodiment, a branch office service includes,without limitation, a presentation service such as an application serverthat executes applications and transmits application output data to aclient machine 102 for display to a user. In still another embodiment, abranch office service includes, without limitation, a resource deliveryserver delivering resources such as applications, desktops computingenvironments, and virtual machines, to a client machine 102 forexecution on the client machine 102; such a resource delivery server mayimplement methods for application streaming to deliver resources. Insome embodiments, by encapsulating a set of branch office services intoa virtual machine, the methods and systems described herein providecentralization of service management via a data center 404 or a cloudservices and hosting infrastructure 406. In one of these embodiments,services may be distributed as virtual appliances but streamed orotherwise delivered to physical or virtual devices. In another of theseembodiments, the methods and systems described herein providefunctionality for local (enterprise IT network 408) acceleration ofapplications when a client machine 102 connects to a resource server 106c for access to an application, which may improve performance ascompared to a system in which most client requests for access toservices are redirected to a cloud services and hosting infrastructure406. In still another of these embodiments, and by way of example, apoint-of-sale retail organization may have a low bandwidth networkconnection to a corporate office and, by implementing the methods andsystems described herein, may provide users with access to locallycached services and resources, while benefiting from centralized hostingand management.

Referring now to FIG. 6A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem for automated provisioning, by a storage delivery managementservice, of virtual machines in a cloud computing environment. In briefoverview, the system includes a storage delivery management service 610,a host computing device communication component 612, a storage systemcommunication component 614, a storage area network 630, and a storagesystem 632. The system may include a fabric management component 616.The system may include a plurality of computing devices 100, a pluralityof virtual machines 166, a plurality of hypervisors 161, and a pluralityof communications components. It should be understood that the systemmay optionally provide multiple ones of any or each of those components.The plurality of computing devices 100 may each be provided as computingdevices 100, described above in connection with FIGS. 1A-D.

The storage system communication component 614 executed by the storagedelivery management service 610, communicates with a storage systemadapter 634 in a storage area network 630 to identify a storage system632 in the storage area network 630, and directs the automatedprovisioning of a virtual storage resource 640 on the identified storagesystem 632, the storage system 632 providing resources for provisioningthe virtual storage resource 640. The host computing devicecommunication component 612 receives a request for access by a hostcomputing device 106 e to the virtual storage resource 640, andresponds, to the host computing device 106 e, with an identification ofa network port of the identified storage system 632 and anidentification of the provisioned virtual storage resource 640.

Referring now to FIG. 6A, and in greater detail, the system includes astorage delivery management service 610. In one embodiment, the storagedelivery management service 610 is referred to as a virtual storagemanager service. In some embodiments, the storage delivery managementservice 610 is a computer program executing on a server 106 or othercomputing device 106 to provide automated provisioning functionality. Inother embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 is ahardware server 106 providing automated provisioning functionality. Infurther embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610executes within a virtual machine executing on a computing device 100,such as a server 106.

In one embodiment, the host computing device communication component612, the storage system communication component 614, the fabricmanagement component 616, and other communications components areprovided as part of the storage delivery management service 610. Inanother embodiment, at least one communication component or managementcomponent is provided as a plug-in, module, or other self-containedexecutable file or program intended to operate within the larger, hostprogram of the storage delivery management service 610. In still anotherembodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 may include oneor more interfaces for communicating with each of the components. Insome embodiments, a communication component, such as the host computingdevice communication component 612, the storage system communicationcomponent 614, or the fabric management component 616, may be providedas byte code, such as an application written in the byte codeprogramming language JAVA.

In one embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 includesan administration console. In another embodiment, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 is in communication with an administrationconsole. In still another embodiment, the administration consoleincludes a user interface accessible over a network 104; for example,the system may include a web-based graphical user interface foraccessing the functionality of the storage delivery management service610 through the administration console. In still even anotherembodiment, a user, such as a network administrator, accesses theadministration console to request services provided by the storagedelivery management service 610. In yet another embodiment, theadministration console is provided as a MICROSOFT Management Console(MMC)-based graphical user interface for interacting with thefunctionality provided by the storage delivery management service 610.

In one embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 includesan interface for interacting with the administration console. In anotherembodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 includes aninterface for receiving, across a network 104, requests for services orfunctionality provided by the storage delivery management service 610.For example, the storage delivery management service 610 may provide aweb services interface communicating with computing devices 100according to a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), or according to aframework such as .NET, which includes a library of pre-coded solutionsto common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages theexecution of programs written specifically for the framework. In someembodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 provides acentral interface in a service-oriented architecture for communicatingwith other computing devices in the system.

In some embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 and theadministration console execute on a single server 106. In otherembodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 and theadministration console execute on separate servers 106. In furtherembodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 and theadministration console execute on separate virtual machines within asingle server 106.

In one embodiment, the host computer 106 e and the host computer 106 freside on a first network 104 a and the storage area network 630 resideson a second network 104 b. In another embodiment, the host computer 106e and the host computer 106 f communicate with one or more storagesystems 632 in the storage area network 630 across a network 104, whichmay be provided as a switch fabric 620. In still another embodiment, theswitch fabric 620 is part of the storage area network 630. In yetanother embodiment, the switch fabric 620 is a network 104.

In some embodiments, the switch fabric 620 is an interconnected networkof switching devices. In one of these embodiments, the switch fabric 620contains a plurality of input and output ports for communicating with aswitch in the network of switching devices. In another of theseembodiments, the switch fabric 620 is an interconnect architecture forredirecting data within a system from one of the ports in a line card toanother port in a different line card. In other embodiments, the switchfabric 620 is a combination of hardware and software and may include theswitching units (individual boxes) in a node, the integrated circuitsthat they contain, and the programming that allows switching paths to becontrolled.

In some embodiments, the storage system adapter 634 resides on a server106 g in the storage area network 630. In other embodiments, the storagesystem adapter 634 is an interface through which external components mayretrieve data about the storage area network 630, such as anidentification of a storage system 632, an identification offunctionality or resources provided by a storage system 632, or a statusof a storage system 632. In further embodiments, a provider of a storagesystem 632 provides a storage system adapter 634 for communicating withthe server.

Referring now to FIG. 6B, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of astorage delivery management service 610 including a storage systemcommunication component 614. In some embodiments, the storage systemcommunication component 614 includes at least one storage adapter forcommunicating with a storage system 632. In one of these embodiments,the storage adapter communicates with the storage adapter 634 providedby the storage system 632. In another of these embodiments, the storagesystem communication component 614 includes an adapter using anapplication programming interface to communicate with the storageadapter 632. In still another of these embodiments, the storage adapterprovided as part of the storage system communication component 614 andthe storage adapter 634 provided by the storage system 632 communicateaccording to a storage system adapter protocol, such as the Web-BasedEnterprise Management protocol (WBEM), which provides a standardmechanism for retrieving data from storage systems. In some embodiments,the storage adapter provided by the storage system communicationcomponent 614 uses a standard protocol to retrieve Common InformationModel Object Manager (CIM OM) data associated with a storage system 632a or 632 b. In other embodiments, a provider of a storage system 632 cor 632 d creates a custom storage system adapter 622 and provides thecustom storage system adapter 622 to the storage delivery managementservice 610 for use in communicating with a storage system 632 c or 632d, or with the storage adapter 634.

In one embodiment, a storage system 632 includes one or more hardwaredevices storing data and providing access to stored data. In anotherembodiment, the storage system 632 is referred to as a storage array. Instill another embodiment, the storage system 632 includes a partition onone or more hardware devices; for example, a plurality of hardwaredevices may each include a physical storage element (such as a diskdrive) on which each of the plurality of hardware devices reserve aportion (such as a partition) for storing data for a particular hostcomputing device 106. In yet another embodiment, a plurality of hardwaredevices in a storage area network 630 from which a storage system 632may be created is referred to as a storage pool.

In one embodiment, the storage system 632 creates and stores a virtualstorage resource for access by a remotely-located computing device 106.In another embodiment, the virtual storage resource may be a virtualdisk for use by a virtual machine executing on a host computing device106 e. In still another embodiment, the virtual storage resource may bereferred to as a storage node.

In one embodiment, one or more hardware devices in the storage system632 are storage devices such as those provided by EMC Corporation ofHopkinton, Mass., Emulex Corporation of Costa Mesa, Calif., FujitsuSiemens Computers GmBH of Maarssen, The Netherlands, Hewlett-PackardCompany, of Palo Alto, Calif., Hitachi, Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan, IBMCorporation of Armonk, N.Y., NetApp, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., NexSanTechnologies of Thousand Oaks, Calif., Quantum Corporation, of San Jose,Calif., and Sanrad, Inc., of Mahwah, N.J.

In one embodiment, the storage system communication component 614receives a request for provisioning of a virtual storage resource 640.The storage system communication component 614 communicates with astorage system adapter 634 in a storage area network 630 to identify astorage system 632 in the storage area network 630. In one embodiment,the storage system communication component 614 uses an applicationprogramming interface to communicate with the storage system adapter634.

The storage system communication component 614 directs the automatedprovisioning of a virtual storage resource 640 on the identified storagesystem 632, the storage system 632 providing resources for provisioningthe virtual storage resource 640. In one embodiment, the storage systemcommunication component 614 transmits, to the identified storage system632, an identification of the at least one network port on the firstcomputing device 106 e to associate with the virtual storage resource640. In one embodiment, the storage system communication component 614transmits, to the identified storage system 632, an identification of atleast one network port on a second computing device 106 f, to which avirtual machine accessing the virtual storage resource 640 has migrated.

In some embodiments, the storage system communication component 614configures the storage system 632 to communicate, according to a firstcommunications protocol, with a first physical computing deviceexecuting a virtual machine. In one of these embodiments, the storagesystem communication component 614 includes functionality for requestingfrom at least one of the storage system 632 and the storage systemadapter 634 an enumeration of communications protocols supported by thestorage system 632; for example, the storage system communicationcomponent 614 may transmit an instruction to the storage system adapter634 to request CIM OM data from the storage system 632 identifyingsupported communications protocols. In another of these embodiments, thestorage system communication component 614 configures the storage system632 to communicate, according to a second communications protocol, witha second physical computing device executing a virtual machine. In stillanother of these embodiments, the first and second communicationsprotocols are the same protocols. In yet another of these embodiments,the first and second communications protocols are different protocols.

In other embodiments, the storage system communication component 614receives a notification of a migration of the virtual machine from thefirst physical computing device, to the second physical computingdevice. In one of these embodiments, the storage system communicationcomponent 614 configures the storage system 632 to communicate,according to the second communications protocol, with the secondphysical computing device upon receiving the notification.

In further embodiments, the storage system communications component 614provides the host computing device communication component 612 anidentification of a communication protocol supported by both a computingdevice 106 and a storage system 632. In one of these embodiments, thehost computing device communication component 612 transmits, to acomputing device 106, an identification of the storage system providingaccess to a provisioned virtual resource. In another of theseembodiments, the host computing device communication component 612transmits, to a computing device 106, an identification of acommunication protocol for use in communicating with the storage system632.

Referring now to FIG. 6C, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem in which the storage delivery management service 610 includes afabric management component 616. In one embodiment, the fabricmanagement component 616, executed by the storage delivery managementservice 610, generates, on at least one switch in a switch fabric 620,an access control list including the identification of at least onenetworking port of the identified storage system 632 and anidentification of at least one network port on a host computing device106. As shown in FIG. 6C, the fabric management component 616communicates with the switch fabric 620. In some embodiments the storagearea network 630 includes the switch fabric 620. In one of theseembodiments, the storage area network 630 is both the switch fabric 620and one or more networked storage systems 632. In other embodiments, thestorage area network 630 is a network of storage systems 632 and theswitch fabric 620 is a separate network from the storage area network630. In one of these embodiments, the switch fabric 620 is a network 104that connects the storage area network 630 to a host computing device106—or to a network 104 a on which the host computing device 106resides. Although depicted as separate elements in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C,in some embodiments, the storage area network 630 is a single networkincluding both a plurality of storage systems 632 and a plurality ofswitches forming a switch fabric 620. In some embodiments, the storagearea network 630 is a network providing network-attached storage.

In one embodiment, the switch fabric 620 includes one or more FibreChannel switches. In another embodiment, the switch fabric 620 includesswitches communicating according to the Internet Small Computer SystemInterface (iSCSI) protocol. The switch fabric 620 may be heterogeneous,including switches that communicate according to either Fibre Channelprotocols or Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) protocols.In another embodiment, a switch in the switch fabric 620 routes datareceived from servers 106 or other computing devices 100 that areassociated with one or more storage systems 632 to a network port on aparticular storage system 632.

In some embodiments, the switch fabric 620 includes a switch fabriccontroller. In one of these embodiments, the switch fabric controllerincludes a storage system adapter 634 with which components outside ofthe storage area network 630—such as the fabric management component 616or the storage system communication component 614—may communicate. Inanother of these embodiments, the storage system adapter 634 resides onthe storage system 632. In other embodiments, the switch fabric 620includes a fabric name server with which the fabric management component616 communicates.

In some embodiments, the fabric management component 616 includes afabric communication adapter 624. In one of these embodiments, thefabric manager component 616 includes a Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters(HBAs). In one of these embodiments, the Fibre Channel HBA handles theprocessing of the Fibre Channel stack using onboard Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs). In other embodiments, the fabric managementcomponent 616 modifies zoning information stored by the switch fabric.In still other embodiments, a zone control interface provided by afabric management component in the switch fabric 620 allows the fabricmanagement component 616 to create and modify zoning information. Infurther embodiments, the fabric management component 616 communicateswith a switch in the switch fabric 620 according to a standard, such asthe Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) to access data,which may also be formatted and retrieved according to a standard, suchas CIM OM. In one of these embodiments, the switch in the switch fabric620 executes a management service providing an application programminginterface with which the fabric management component 616 interacts.

Zones include identifications of devices such as storage systems 632 andthe host computing devices 100 authorized to access data stored by oneor more storage systems 632. Identifications of devices may includeunique identifiers of the device itself, such as its unique World WideName (WWN), or of a port on the device, such as a network port for astorage system 632. Typically, devices that communicate with eachother—such as a storage system 632 and the host computing devices 100authorized to access data stored by the storage system 632—areidentified on a zone list, which may also be referred to as an accesscontrol list. In some embodiments, if a device is not identified on thezone list, it will not be allowed to access data stored by other deviceson the zone list. In other embodiments, the zone list includes anidentification of a partition on a storage system 632—for example, alogical unit or virtual disk or other virtual storage resource may beprovided on one of a plurality of partitions on the storage system 632and a port is assigned to each such partition for use in identifying thepartition in an access control list. Such functionality is typicallyreferred to as LUN masking. In one embodiment, when a host computingdevice 106 or server 402 communicates with or about a storage system632—for example, to request an identification of the storage system 632,to modify an access control list identifying the storage system 632, orto access data provided by one or more storage systems—the computingdevice requests an identification of each of the devices listed on anyaccess control list that also identifies the requesting computingdevice.

In some embodiments, the fabric management component 616 providesfunctionality for dynamically modifying access control lists to includeidentifications of virtual machines authorized to access a storagesystem 632. In another of these embodiments, the fabric managementcomponent 616 provides functionality for dynamically modifying accesscontrol lists to include identifications of host computing devices 100authorized to access a storage system 632. In still another of theseembodiments, the fabric management component 616 provides functionalityfor dynamically modifying access control lists to includeidentifications of host computing devices 100 executing virtual machinesauthorized to access a storage system 632. In yet another of theseembodiments, the fabric management component 616 provides functionalityfor modifying an access control list identifying a network port of afirst computing device executing a virtual machine to include anidentification of a network port on a second computing device to whichthe virtual machine has migrated.

In other embodiments, the fabric management component 616 is optional.In one of these embodiments, for example, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 interacts with a storage area network 630providing functionality according to the iSCSI protocol instead ofaccording to the Fibre Channel standards, in which case fabricmanagement is not required because the storage delivery managementservice 610 and host computing devices 100 communicate directly withstorage systems 632 without requiring modification to or management of aswitch fabric 620.

Referring now to FIG. 6D, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem in which the storage delivery management service 610 executes thehost computing device communication component 612. The host computingdevice communication component 612 receives a request for access, by ahost computing device 106, to the virtual storage resource 640. The hostcomputing device communication component 612 responds to the requestwith the identification of a network port of the identified storagesystem 632 and an identification of the provisioned virtual storageresource 640. In some embodiments, a host computing device 106communicates directly with a storage system 632 using the identifiednetwork port of the identified storage system 632. In other embodiments,the host computing device 106 communicates with a storage system 632through a storage network 630, which may include the switch fabric 620.

In some embodiments, the host computing device communication component612 includes a communication adapter for communicating with a hostcomputing device 106. In other embodiments, the host computing devicecommunication component 612 includes a communication adapter forcommunicating with a virtual machine 166 a executing on a host computingdevice 106. In one of these embodiments, the computing device 106includes a hypervisor, which receives communication data from the hostcomputing device communication component 612 and transmits the receivedcommunication data to the control operating system 165 in the virtualmachine 166 a for processing. In another of these embodiments, thevirtual machine 166 a transmits a response from the control operatingsystem 165 to the host computing device communication component 612. Instill another of these embodiments, the control operating system 165 andthe host computing device communication component 612 exchangecommunication related to the provisioning or management of a virtualmachine 166 b executing on the computing device 106. As described abovein connection with FIG. 1A, a hypervisor may include those manufacturedby VMWare, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif.; the XEN hypervisor, an opensource product whose development is overseen by the open source Xen.orgcommunity; HyperV, VirtualServer or virtual PC hypervisors provided byMicrosoft, or others. In some embodiments, the host computing devicecommunication component 612 includes a communication adapter fortransmitting data to a hypervisor. In one of these embodiments, and asdepicted in FIG. 6D, the host computing device communication component612 includes a separate communication adapter for transmitting data toeach different kind of hypervisor. In another of these embodiments, thehost computing device communication component 612 includes a universalcommunication adapter (not depicted) for transmitting data to eachdifferent kind of hypervisor.

In some embodiments, the host computing device communication component612 receives, from a broker server 100 a, a request for provisioning ofthe virtual storage resource for the computing device 106 e comprisingat least one network port. In one of these embodiments, the hostcomputing device communication component 612 transmits the request tothe storage system communication component 614. In another of theseembodiments, the host computing device communication component 612transmits, to the broker server 100 a, an identification of theprovisioned virtual resource 640. In still another of these embodiments,the host computing device communication component 612 includes aninterface for receiving requests from the broker server 101 a; forexample, the interface may be a graphical user interface displayed to auser of the broker server 100 a over a network connection, or a webservices interface, such as the SOAP/.NET interfaces described above. Inother embodiments, the host computing device communication component 612communicates with a control operating system 165. In still otherembodiments, the host computing device communication component 612accesses an application programming interface to communicate with thehost computing devices 100.

In some embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610executes a virtual machine migration component (not depicted). In one ofthese embodiments, the virtual machine migration component receives anindication of a migration of the virtual machine from the firstcomputing device 106 e to the second computing device 106 f. In anotherof these embodiments, the virtual machine migration component receives arequest for a migration of the virtual machine from the first computingdevice 106 e to the second computing device 106 f. In still another ofthese embodiments, the virtual machine migration component receives anidentification of at least one network port on the second computingdevice 106 f. In still another of these embodiments, the virtual machinemigration component transmits the identification of the at least onenetwork port on the second computing device 106 f to the storage systemcommunication component 614; the storage system communication component614 may transmit, to the storage system 632, the identification of theat least one network port on the second computing device 106 f toassociate with the virtual storage resource 640. In still even anotherof these embodiments, the virtual machine migration component transmitsthe identification of the provisioned virtual storage resource 640 andthe identification of the at least one network port of the storagesystem 632 to the second computing device 106 f. In yet another of theseembodiments, the virtual machine migration component transmits theidentification of the at least one network port of the storage system632 and the identification of the at least one network port on thesecond computing device 106 f to the fabric manager communicationcomponent 616. In further embodiments, the fabric management component616, executed by the storage delivery management service 610, generates,on at least one switch in a switch fabric 620, an access control listincluding the identification of at least one networking port of theidentified storage system 632 and an identification of at least onenetwork port on the host computing device 106 e or 106 f.

In some embodiments, the virtual machine migration component providesfunctionality for storing a state of execution of a virtual machine on acomputing device 106 e. In one of these embodiments, the virtual machinemigration component transmits an instruction to terminate execution ofthe virtual machine. In another of these embodiments, the virtualmachine migration component migrates the stored state of execution ofthe virtual machine and a virtual machine image associated with theterminated virtual machine to a second computing device 106 f. In otherembodiments, the virtual machine migration component is provided by acontrol operating system 165 that executes within a virtual machine 166hosted on the same server 106 as the storage delivery management service610. In further embodiments, the virtual machine migration component isprovided by a control operating system 165 that executes within avirtual machine 166 hosted on a server 106 and is in communication withthe storage delivery management service 610.

In some embodiments, the host computing device communication component612 includes the virtual machine migration component. In otherembodiments, the host computing device communication component 612provides the functionality provided by the virtual machine migrationcomponent.

In some embodiments, a host computing device 106 e and a host computingdevice 106 f reside on a network 104 a. In one of these embodiments, thehost computing devices 100 execute virtual machines providing acomputing environment to a user of the host computing device 106. Inanother of these embodiments, the virtual machines execute resources andtransmit output data generated by the resources to a client computer 102for a display on the client computer 102 to a user of the clientcomputer 102. The client computer 102 may reside on the same network 104a as the host computing devices 100, or on a separate network 104 b. Inother embodiments, the host computing device 106 retrieves data neededto execute a virtual machine—for example, a virtual machine image orvirtual storage resource—from a computing device 106 residing on thenetwork 104. In still other embodiments, however, the host computingdevice 106 retrieves data needed to execute the virtual machine from astorage system 632 in the storage network 630, which may be a network104 c. In further embodiments, a provider of the host computing device106 is a customer of a provider of the storage area network 630,receiving storage services from the provider of the storage area network630. In one of these embodiments, the storage service provider may beproviding storage services over one or more networks 104 (such as thestorage area network 630, the switch fabric 620, and other intermediatenetworks 104 b between the storage service provider and the provider ofthe host computers 100). In such an embodiment, the storage serviceprovider may be said to be providing cloud computing services, sincethey are providing access to storage resources and storage services overthe “cloud” of the Internet.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow diagram depicts one embodiment of amethod for automated provisioning of virtual resources in a cloudcomputing environment. In brief overview, the method 700 includesdirecting, by a storage delivery management service, provisioning, on astorage system in a storage area network, of a virtual storage resourcefor a virtual machine executing on a first computing device comprisingat least one network port (702). The method includes transmitting, bythe storage delivery management service, to the storage system, anidentification of the at least one network port on the first computingdevice to associate with the virtual storage resource (704). The methodincludes transmitting, by the storage delivery management service, tothe first computing device, an instruction to retrieve an identificationof the provisioned virtual storage resource and an identification of atleast one network port on the storage system (706). The method includesreceiving, by the storage delivery management service, an indication ofa migration of the virtual machine from the first computing device to asecond computing device (708). The method includes transmitting, by thestorage delivery management service, to the storage system, anidentification of at least one network port on the second computingdevice to associate with the virtual storage resource (710). The methodincludes transmitting, by the storage delivery management service, tothe second computing device, an instruction to retrieve anidentification of the provisioned virtual storage resource and anidentification of the at least one network port on the storage system(712).

Referring now to FIG. 7, and in greater detail, a storage deliverymanagement service 610 directs provisioning, on a storage system 632 ina storage area network 630, of a virtual storage resource 640 for avirtual machine 166 executing on a first computing device 106 ecomprising at least one network port (702). In some embodiments, thestorage delivery management service 610 receives a request forprovisioning of the virtual storage resource for the first computingdevice comprising at least one network port. In one of theseembodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 receives therequest for provisioning of the virtual storage resource 640 from abroker server 106 a on behalf of a computing device 106 e; the computingdevice 106 e includes at least one network port. In another of theseembodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 receives therequest for provisioning of the virtual storage resource 640 from a hostcomputing device 106 e hosting a virtual machine. In still another ofthese embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610identifies a storage system in a storage area network, the storagesystem providing resources for provisioning the virtual storageresource. In still even another of these embodiments, the storagedelivery management service 610 communicates with a storage adapter 634to identify the storage system 632. In yet another of these embodiments,the storage system communication component 614 requests anidentification of an available storage system 632 providing access toresources for provisioning the virtual storage resource; for example,the storage system communication component 614 may request anenumeration of all storage systems 632 that are able to create and storea virtual disk allocated a specified amount of physical disk drivespace.

In some embodiments, new virtual storage resources are provisioned. Inother embodiments, existing virtual storage resources are re-assignedfrom one host computing device 106 e to a second host computing device106 f. In still other embodiments, a new virtual storage resource isprovisioned by copying into the virtual storage resource the contents ofan existing virtual storage resource. In one of these embodiments, theexisting virtual storage resource is cloned.

In some embodiments, new virtual storage resources are provisioned on ashort term basis. In one of these embodiments, for example, a hostcomputing device 106 e may request provisioning of additional virtualstorage resources to support a virtual machine that requires additionalresources—additional virtual disk space, for example—but only on atemporary basis. In another of these embodiments, the virtual machinemay have temporarily exceeded its allocated use of a previouslyprovisioned virtual storage resource or begin executing a process whichwill result in the virtual machine exceeding allocated resources. Instill another of these embodiments, virtual storage resources may beprovided on a short term basis to support a virtual machine thatrequires additional resources.

In some embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610receives a request to implement n_port identification virtualizationwhen provisioning the virtual storage resource. In one of theseembodiments, the request includes an identification of a virtual hostbus adapter allocated to a virtual machine 166 executing on thecomputing device. In another of these embodiments, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 receives a request for access to a provisionedvirtual storage resource. In another of these embodiments, the storagedelivery management service 610 receives a request for provisioning of avirtual storage resource for the virtual machine 166. In still anotherof these embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610assigns, to the virtual host bus adapter, a unique identifier. In stilleven another of these embodiments, the storage delivery managementservice 610 transmits, to the first computing device 106 e, anidentification of the unique identifier. In yet another of theseembodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 transmits, tothe storage system 632, the unique identifier of the virtual host busadapter. In some of these embodiments, the storage delivery managementservice 610 transmits, to a switch in the switch fabric 620 anidentification of the unique identifier of the virtual host bus adapterfor inclusion in an access control list allowing the virtual machine 166and the storage system 632. In other embodiments, the storage system 632provides, to the virtual host bus adapter, access to the provisionedvirtual storage resource. In further embodiments, the virtual host busadapter communicates with the storage system 632 to provide, to avirtual machine executing on the first computing device 106 e, access tothe virtual storage resource.

In some embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610receives a request for provisioning of the virtual storage resource,identifies a storage system 632 capable of provisioning the requestedvirtual storage resource, and directs the provisioning of the virtualstorage resource. In one of these embodiments, the storage systemcommunication component 614 transmits an instruction to the storagesystem 632, via the storage system adapter 634, to create the virtualstorage resource. In another of these embodiments, the storage system632 transmits, to the storage system communication component 614, viathe storage system adapter 634, an identification of the provisionedvirtual storage resource.

In some embodiments, after the virtual storage resource 640 is created,the storage delivery management service 610 communicates with thestorage system adapter 634 to request that the storage system 632 assignthe new virtual storage resource 640 to one or more ports on the hostcomputing device. In one of these embodiments, this is referred to asLogical Unit Number (LUN) masking and mapping. In another of theseembodiments, the storage system 632 is asked to return informationneeded to identify the assigned virtual storage resource 640. In stillanother of these embodiments, the host computing device 106 e receives arequest by the storage delivery management service 610 to connect thevirtual storage resource 640 to the appropriate virtual machine. Inother embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610 receivesan identification of a provisioned storage resource by issuing SCSIinquiry commands to retrieve the various mode pages that store theidentification. In one of these embodiments, using that information, thestorage delivery management service correlates identification in themode page to the virtual storage resource 640 created in the storagesystem 632 via the storage adapter 634.

The storage delivery management service 610 transmits, to the storagesystem 632, an identification of the at least one network port on thefirst computing device to associate with the virtual storage resource(704). In one embodiment, a request for provisioning the virtual storageresource included the identification of the at least one network port.In another embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610transmits, to the storage system 632, an identification of a virtualport associated with a virtual machine executing on the first computingdevice 106 e. In still another embodiment, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 transmits, to the storage system 632, anidentification of a physical port associated with a virtual machineexecuting on the first computing device 106 e.

In some embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610configures the switch fabric 620 to allow the host computing device 106to access the storage system 632. In one of these embodiments, thefabric management component 616 generates, on at least one switch in aswitch fabric, an access control list including an identification of atleast one network port on the storage system and an identification ofthe at least one network port on the computing device. In another ofthese embodiments, the fabric management component 616 modifies anexisting access control list to include an identification of the atleast one network port on the computing device. In still another ofthese embodiments, the fabric management component 616 modifies anexisting access control list to include an identification of the atleast one network port on the storage system 632.

The storage delivery management service 610 transmits, to the firstcomputing device, an instruction to retrieve an identification of theprovisioned virtual storage resource and an identification of at leastone network port on the storage system (706). In one embodiment, thefirst computing device 106 e receives a notification that a virtualstorage resource has been provisioned for the virtual machine 166executed by the first computing device 106 e. In another embodiment, thefirst computing device 106 e receives, from the storage deliverymanagement service 610, an identification of the storage system 632provisioning the virtual storage resource. In still another embodiment,the first computing device 106 e receives an instruction to request anupdate to an enumeration of available storage resources. In yet anotherembodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 transmits, tothe broker computing device 106 a, an instruction for redirection to thefirst computing device 106 e.

In some embodiments, the first computing device 106 e receives aninstruction to request an enumeration of available virtual storageresources. In one of these embodiments, the first computing device 106 etransmits, to the storage adapter 634, a request for available virtualstorage resources. In another of these embodiments, the first computingdevice 106 e transmits, to the storage area network 630, a request foravailable virtual storage resources. In still another of theseembodiments, the first computing device 106 e transmits, to the switchfabric 620, a request for available virtual storage resources. In suchan embodiment, the switch fabric 620 may retrieve an enumeration ofaccess control lists that list the first computing device 106 e—or anetwork port of the first computing device 106 e, or a network port of avirtual machine 166 executed by the first computing device 106 e—andprovides the first computing device 106 e with an enumeration of storagesystems 632 that the first computing device 106 e may access.

In one embodiment, the first computing device 106 e establishes aconnection to the identified at least one network port on the storagesystem 632. In another embodiment, the first computing device 106requests, from a switch fabric 620, establishment of a connection to theidentified at least one network port on the storage system 632. In stillanother embodiment, at least one switch in the switch fabric 620establishes a connection between the identified at least one networkport on the first computing device and the identified at least onenetwork port on the storage system. In still another embodiment, thefirst computing device 106 e provides, to the virtual machine 166,access to the provisioned virtual storage resource.

The storage delivery management service 610 receives an indication of amigration of the virtual machine from the first computing device to asecond computing device (708). In one embodiment, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 receives a request for migration of the virtualmachine 166. In another embodiment, the storage delivery managementservice 610 receives the request from a broker computer 100 a. In stillanother embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 receivesthe request from a virtual machine migration component.

The storage delivery management service 610 transmits, to the storagesystem 632, an identification of the at least one network port on thesecond computing device to associate with the virtual storage resource(710). In one embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610transmits, to the switch fabric 620, the identification of the at leastone network port on the second computing device to associate with thevirtual storage resource. In another embodiment, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 service communicates with at least one switch inthe switch fabric 620, to generate or modify an access control listallowing communication between the storage system 632 and the at leastone network port on the second computing device. In still anotherembodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 removesassociations between the storage system 632 and the identified networkport on the first computing device. In yet another embodiment, thestorage delivery management service 610 transmits, to the storage system632, an identification of the at least one network port, responsive toreceiving the request for migration of the virtual machine.

The storage delivery management service 610 transmits, to the secondcomputing device, an identification of the provisioned virtual storageresource and an identification of at least one network port on thestorage system (712). In one embodiment, the second computing device 106f establishes a connection with the storage system 632 to access thevirtual storage resource, responsive to the received identification ofthe provisioned virtual storage resource. In another embodiment, thesecond computing device 106 f establishes a connection with the storagesystem 632 to access the virtual storage resource, responsive to thereceived identification of the at least one network port on the storagesystem 632. In still another embodiment, the second computing device 106f requests, from the switch fabric 620, establishment of a connection tothe storage system 632. In yet another embodiment, the second computingdevice 106 f provides, to the virtual machine 166 b access to thevirtual storage resource. In some embodiments, the second computingdevice 106 f retrieves a copy of the virtual storage resource—forexample, by making a local copy of a virtual disk stored on the storagesystem 632, and on which the virtual machine 166 b may execute. In otherembodiments, the second computing device 106 f makes requests for datastored in the virtual storage resource 640, over a network 104, whichmay include the switch fabric 620, rather than making a local copy ofthe virtual storage resource.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow diagram depicts one embodiment of amethod for dynamically switching between communications protocols. Inbrief overview, the method 400 includes configuring, by a storagedelivery management service, a storage system in a storage area network,to communicate, according to a first communications protocol with afirst physical computing device executing a virtual machine, the storagesystem providing, to the virtual machine, access to a virtual storageresource (802). The method includes receiving, by the storage deliverymanagement service, a request to migrate the virtual machine from thefirst physical computing device to a second physical computing device(804). The method includes configuring, by the storage deliverymanagement service, the storage system to communicate with the secondphysical computing device according to a second communications protocol(806). The method includes transmitting, by the storage deliverymanagement service, to the second physical computing device, anidentification of the storage system providing access to the virtualstorage resource for the virtual machine (808).

Referring now to FIG. 8, and in greater detail, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 configures a storage system in a storage areanetwork, to communicate, according to a first communications protocolwith a first physical computing device executing a virtual machine, thestorage system providing, to the virtual machine, access to a virtualstorage resource (802). In one embodiment, the host computing devicecommunication component 612 requests an identification of communicationsprotocols supported by the first physical computing device 106 e. Inanother embodiment, the storage system communication component 614requests an identification of communications protocols supported by thestorage system 632. In still another embodiment, the storage systemcommunication component 614 transmits, to the storage system adapter634, the request for the identification. In still even anotherembodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 identifies acommunication protocol supported by both the first computing device 106e and by the storage system 632. In yet another embodiment, the storagesystem communication component 614 identifies a communication protocolsupported by both the first computing device 106 e and by the storagesystem 632.

In one embodiment, the storage system communication component 614configures the storage system 632 to communicate with the first physicalcomputing device 106 e according to the first communication protocol inproviding access to the virtual storage resource 640. In anotherembodiment, the storage system communication component 614 transmits, tothe storage adapter 634, an identification of the storage system 632, anidentification of at least one network port on the first physicalcomputing device 106 e, and an identification of a communicationprotocol to use in communicating with the first physical computingdevice 106 e.

The storage delivery management service 610 receives a request tomigrate the virtual machine from the first physical computing device toa second physical computing device (804). In one embodiment, the hostcomputing device communication component 612 receives the request tomigrate the virtual machine. In another embodiment, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 receives an identification of a migration processthat has begun. In still another embodiment, the migration of thevirtual machine depends upon the ability of the storage system 632 toprovide access to the virtual storage resource to the second physicalcomputing device 106 f; for example, the virtual storage resource may bea virtual disk upon which the virtual machine 166 executes and withoutwhich the virtual machine 166 ought not execute.

The storage delivery management service 610 configures the storagesystem to communicate with the second physical computing deviceaccording to a second communications protocol (806). In one embodiment,the storage delivery management service 610 requests, from the secondphysical computing device 106 f, an identification of at least onecommunications protocol supported by the second physical computingdevice 106 f. In another embodiment, the host computing devicecommunication component 612 requests, from the second physical computingdevice 106 f, an identification of at least one communications protocolsupported by the second physical computing device 106 f. In stillanother embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610determines that the second physical computing device 106 f supports adifferent communication protocol than the communication protocolsupported by the first computing device 106 e. In still even anotherembodiment, the storage system communication component 614 receives,from the host computing device communication component 612, anotification of the migration of the virtual machine to the secondphysical computing device 106 f. In yet another embodiment, the storagesystem communication component 614 receives an identification of thecommunication protocol supported by the second physical computing device106 f.

In one embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 requests,from the storage system 632, an enumeration of communication protocolssupported by the storage system 632. In another embodiment, the storagesystem communication component 614 requests, from the storage system632, an enumeration of communication protocols supported by the storagesystem 632. In still another embodiment, the storage delivery managementservice 610 determines that the storage system 632 supports thecommunication protocol supported by the second computing device 106 f.

In some embodiments, the communication protocols that the computingdevices use to communicate with the storage system 632 are storageprotocols. In one of these embodiments, the storage protocol is a FibreChannel-based protocol; for example, the storage protocol may be theFibre Channel Protocol, which is an interface protocol of SCSI on theFibre Channel, or the Fibre Channel over IP protocol, which provides atunneling approach and is defined in the Internet Engineering Task Force(IETF) document RFC 3821. In another of these embodiments, the storageprotocol is an iSCSI protocol.

The storage delivery management service 610 transmits, to the secondphysical computing device, an identification of the storage systemproviding access to the virtual storage resource for the virtual machine(808). In one embodiment, the host computing device communicationcomponent 612 transmits, to the second physical computing device 106 f,the identification of the storage system providing access to the virtualstorage resource for the virtual machine. In another embodiment, thehost computing device communication component 612 transmits, to thesecond physical computing device 106 f, the identification of thecommunication protocol for use in communicating with the storage system632. In still another embodiment, the host computing devicecommunication component 612 transmits, to the second physical computingdevice 106 f, a confirmation of support by the storage system 632 of adefault communication protocol used by the second computing device 106f.

In one embodiment, the fabric management component 616 configures anaccess control list stored by a switch in the switch fabric 620 toinclude an identification of at least one network port of the secondphysical computing device 106 f. In another embodiment, the storagedelivery management service 610 transmits an identification to a brokerserver 106 to migrate the virtual machine to the second physicalcomputing device 106 f. In still another embodiment, the storagedelivery management service 610 migrates the virtual machine to thesecond physical computing device 106 f. In some embodiments, themigration occurs as the virtual machine continues to execute; this maybe referred to as live migration. In other embodiments, the migrationoccurs after a state of execution of the virtual machine has been storedand execution of the virtual machine terminates. In further embodiments,the storage delivery management service 610 disables access, by thefirst physical computing device 106 e, to the virtual storage resourceprovided by the storage system 632. In one of these embodiments, thestorage delivery management service 610 transmits, via the storagesystem adapter 634, to the storage system 632 an indication that thefirst physical computing device 106 e—or a network port of the firstphysical computing device 106 e—is no longer authorized to access thevirtual storage resource. In another of these embodiments, the storagedelivery management service 610 transmits, via the fabric managementcomponent 616, a request to a switch in the switch fabric 620 to removethe first physical computing device 106 e—or a network port of the firstphysical computing device 106 e—from an access control list associatingthe first physical computing device 106 e with the storage system 632.

In some embodiments in which a virtual machine is migrated from onephysical computing device 106 e to a second physical computing device106 e, the migration occurs between heterogeneous machines providingdifferent functionality and supporting different communicationsprotocols. In one of these embodiments, the methods and systemsdescribed herein provide functionality for dynamically switchingcommunication protocol configurations on storage systems accessed by thevirtual machine, resulting in improved migration processes.

Referring now to FIG. 9A, a flow diagram depicts one embodiment of amethod for retrieving data from a storage system in a cloud computingenvironment. The method 500 includes receiving, by an interface object,from a computing device, a request for provisioning, by a storagesystem, of a virtual storage resource (902). The method includesrequesting, by the interface object, from a storage system interfaceobject, provisioning of the virtual storage resource (904). The methodincludes receiving, by the interface object, from the storage systeminterface object, an identification of the provisioned virtual storageresource (906). The method includes accessing an interface translationfile to translate the identification of the provisioned virtual storageresource from a proprietary format implemented by the storage systeminterface object into a standardized format, the interface translationfile mapping each of a plurality of proprietary formats with thestandardized format (908). The method includes transmitting, to thecomputing device, the translated identification, responsive to thereceived request (910).

In some embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610receives a request for provisioning of a virtual storage resource 502.In one of these embodiments, the storage delivery management service 610transmits the request to the storage system communication component 614.In another of these embodiments, in response, the storage systemcommunication component 614 generates an identification of the storagesystem 632, the identification formatted for processing by the brokercomputer 106 b. For example, and in still another of these embodiments,the storage system adapter 634 may transmit an identification of thestorage system 632 in a vendor-specific format; the storage systemcommunication component 614 may translate that identification into aformat that the broker computer 100 a can process.

Referring now to FIG. 9A, and in greater detail, an interface objectreceives, from a computing device, a request for provisioning, by astorage system, of a virtual storage resource (902). In one embodiment,the storage system communication component 614 includes an interfaceobject 618 such as a universal SMI-S adapter 618. In another embodiment,the interface object 618 receives the request for provisioning of thevirtual storage resource 640 from the storage system communicationcomponent 614. In still another embodiment, the interface object 618receives the request for provisioning of the virtual storage resource640 from the storage delivery management service 610. In yet anotherembodiment, the interface object 618 receives the request, indirectly ordirectly, from a broker computer 100 a.

The method includes requesting, by the interface object, from a storagesystem interface object, provisioning of the virtual storage resource(904). In one embodiment, the interface object 618 communicates with aninterface object provided to retrieve data about and issue commands to astorage system 632 in a storage area network 630. In another embodiment,the interface object is an adapter 634 as described above. In stillanother embodiment, the adapter provides a mechanism for externalcommunication with a storage system 632, and thus provides an interfaceto the storage system 632. In yet another embodiment, a vendor or otherprovider of a storage system 632 creates an adapter that allows systemssuch as the storage delivery management service 610 to accessfunctionality provided by the storage system 632. In some embodiments,the interface object 618 and the interface object 634 communicateaccording to a protocol for retrieving CIM OM data or according to aspecification such as SMI-S. In one of these embodiments, the interfaceobject 634 may format data according to an implementation by a providerof the storage systems 632 of SMI-S. In other embodiments, the providerof the storage system 632 may have implemented a customized version ofSMI-S. In one of these embodiments, for example, the provider mayprovide additional functionality other than what is in the SMI-S, or mayhave specified a formatting detail about which the SMI-S was silent.

The method includes receiving, by the interface object, from the storagesystem interface object, an identification of the provisioned virtualstorage resource (906). In one embodiment, the interface object 618receives, from the storage system interface object 634, anidentification of a provisioned virtual storage resource 506. In anotherembodiment, the interface object 618 receives, from the storage systeminterface object 634, an identification of an identified storage system632. In still another embodiment, the interface object 618 receives,from the storage system interface object 634, a response to a requestfor data associated with the storage system 632. In still even anotherembodiment, the interface object 618 receives, from the storage systeminterface object 634, a response to a request for access tofunctionality provided by the storage system 632. In yet anotherembodiment, the interface object 618 receives, from the storage systeminterface object 634, a response to an instruction transmitted forexecution by the storage system 632; for example, the interface object618 may receive confirmation of execution of an instruction to provisiona virtual storage resource. In some embodiments, by way of example, theinterface object 618 receives authentication of an entity for whichstorage credentials were provided. In other embodiments, and asdiscussed in further detail below in connection with FIG. 9D, theinterface object 618 receives a response to a request for acharacteristic of the storage area network 630, such as anidentification of available storage systems, storage nodes, pools,virtualized storage resources, or other resources. In furtherembodiments, the data received from the storage system interface object634 is in a vendor-specific format and the same type of responses fromdifferent vendors of different storage systems 632 may have varyingformats.

In one embodiment, an area of variability in vendor SMI-S providerimplementations relates to where identifiers for storage systems,storage pools and storage volumes are stored within a data modelprovided in response to a request for the identifiers. In anotherembodiment, although much of that is well documented in the SMI-Sspecification, in practice, there is much variability betweenimplementations as to which attributes are used for storing diskidentifiers and storage system serial numbers, both of which are piecesof data used by the storage delivery management service 610 for devicecorrelation purposes. In still another embodiment, the generation of astandardized identifier for vendor data can be configured by usingcustom settings in the interface translation file.

The method includes accessing an interface translation file to translatethe identification of the provisioned virtual storage resource from aproprietary format implemented by the storage system interface objectinto a standardized format, the interface translation file mapping eachof a plurality of proprietary formats with the standardized format(908). In one embodiment, a vendor of a storage system 632 provides aninterface translation file, which is a configurable data file thatdescribes how to translate data from a vendor-specific format to astandard format. In another embodiment, an entity managing the storagedelivery management service 610 creates a version of the interfacetranslation file, which may include a template for completion by aprovider, and the provider of a storage system 632 completes theinterface translation file so that the interface translation fileincludes a mapping between data requested by the storage deliverymanagement service 610 and the interface object 634. In still anotherembodiment, the interface translation file contains a plurality ofmappings for translating data from each of a plurality of providers ofstorage systems, resulting in a single file that allows the storagedelivery management service 610 to translate data from a plurality ofvendor-specific formats into a single, universal format for processingby the storage delivery management service 610, its subcomponents, andthe systems with which it interacts. In yet another embodiment,providing a mapping that describes how to translate data rather thanrequiring generation of a new interface object 618 from each provider ofa storage system is more efficient and cost-effective for both theprovider of the storage system 632 and the administrator of the storagedelivery management service 610. In some embodiments, the interfacetranslation file is a dynamically extensible file written in a languagesuch as the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). In other embodiments, theinterface translation file may be updated by the provider of the storagesystem 632 upon providing new or modified functionality in the storagesystem 632. Appendix A includes, without limitation, a description ofsome of the types of information associated with a storage system forwhich a vendor may include a translation within an XML translation file.

In one embodiment, the interface object 618 receives a response to arequest for data associated with a storage system 632, the responseformatted in a vendor-specific format, and accesses the interfacetranslation file to transform the data into a common format. Appendix Aincludes a flow diagram depicting one embodiment of a method forreceiving data from a storage system interface object 634 in a vendorspecific format.

The translated identification is transmitted to the computing device106, responsive to the received request (910). In one embodiment, theinterface object 618 transmits a translated identifier to a brokercomputer 100 a directly. In another embodiment, the interface object 618transmits a translated identifier indirectly, by providing it to thestorage delivery management service 610, which may then transmit thetranslated identifier to the broker computer 100 a. In some embodiments,the translated identifier is cached for later use.

Referring now to FIG. 9B, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of aportion of an interface translation file. In one embodiment, theinterface translation file 512 provides a way of normalizing theidentification of a storage device to a common format referred to as astorage node identifier, which contains requested information. Asdepicted in FIG. 5B, and in one embodiment, a common formatting style isapplied; for example, the format may delimit data by a double underscoreor other separator(VENDOR_MODEL_STORAGE-SYSTEM-SERIAL-NUMBER_STORAGE-DEVICE-IDENTIFER).

Referring now to FIG. 9C, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of adata model identifying data associated with a storage system andavailable for retrieval by a storage delivery management service 610. Inone embodiment, data associated with a storage system includes, withoutlimitation, an identifier, an alias, a serial number, a vendor name oridentifier, a model identifier, an identification of at least onecapability, and an identification of available functionality. In anotherembodiment, data associated with the storage system includes dataassociated with a storage node within the storage system including,without limitation, a node identifier, a system identifier, an alias, aserial number, a status, an access control list, a type of node, a sizeof the node, an amount of space used in a node, an amount of spaceavailable in a node, information associated with redundancy features, agroup identifier, and an identifier of functionality available. In stillanother embodiment, data associated with the storage system includesdata associated with a storage pool including, without limitation, apool identifier, a system identifier, an alias, a parent poolidentifier, a size of the pool, an amount of space used in a pool, anamount of space available in a pool, information associated withredundancy features, information associated with types of provisioningfunctionality availability, default configuration data, and status data.

Referring now to FIG. 9D, a flow diagram depicts another embodiment ofanother method for retrieving data from a storage system in a cloudcomputing environment. In brief overview, the method 515 includesquerying, by an interface object, a storage system interface object, foran enumeration of resources provided by a storage system (920). Themethod includes receiving an identification expressed in a proprietaryformat of at least one enumerated resource (922). The method includesaccessing an interface translation file to translate the identificationinto an identification expressed in a standardized format, the interfacetranslation file mapping each of a plurality of proprietary formats tothe standardized format (924). The method includes receiving a requestfor the identification of at least one enumerated resource (926). Themethod includes responding, to the request, with the translatedidentification (928).

Referring now to FIG. 9D, and in greater detail, the interface object618 queries a storage system interface object 634 for an enumeration ofresources provided by a storage system (920). In some embodiments, theinterface object 618 undergoes a discovery process to develop anenumeration of resources that are available in advance of a request bythe storage delivery management service 610. In other embodiments, theinterface object 618 undergoes the discover process responsive to arequest by the storage delivery management service 610.

The interface object 618 receives an identification expressed in aproprietary format of at least one enumerated resource (922). Asdescribed above in connection with FIG. 9A, the response from thestorage system interface object 634 may be in a vendor-specific format,in spite of a vendor complying with a standard or specification.

The interface object 618 accesses an interface translation file totranslate the identification into an identification expressed in astandardized format, the interface translation file mapping each of aplurality of proprietary formats to the standardized format (924). Asdescribed above, and in Appendix A, the interface object 618 uses theinterface translation file to identify data within the vendor-specificresponse and to generate an identification of the data in a universal,standardized format.

The interface object 618 receives a request for the identification of atleast one enumerated resource (926). In one embodiment, the interfaceobject 618 receives the request from the storage system communicationcomponent 614. In another embodiment, the interface object 618 receivesthe request from the storage delivery management service 610.

The interface object 618 responds to the request with the translatedidentification (928). In one embodiment, the interface object 618transmits the translated identification to the requesting entity. Inanother embodiment, the interface object 618 retrieves the translatedidentification from a cache, database, or other storage element andtransmits the retrieved translated identification to the requestor.

In some embodiments, implementation of the methods and systems describedherein provide a unified management interface for configuring storagearea networks to provide virtual storage resources for access bycomputing devices on other networks. In one of these embodiments, asystem in a cloud computing environment may include multiple virtualcomputing environments spanning the globe. In another of theseembodiments, by using the methods and systems described herein, acustomer of a storage system provider is insulated from having toaddress the administrative tasks that accompany management of a virtualcomputing environment. With administrative tasks processed by acentralized management service, in these embodiments, management becomesvirtualized, alleviating administrative burdens of the customers. Theseembodiments allow users of cloud computing environments to make requestsfor provisioning without having to attend to the administrative detailsof carrying out the requests themselves. By insulating customers fromadministrative tasks of managing a virtual computing environment, such acentralized, automated, virtual storage management service allowscustomers to focus on provisioning and managing the services theyprovide to their own users and customers, such as access toapplications, virtual machines, and other resources.

The following illustrative examples show how the methods and systemsdiscussed above may be used for automated provisioning, by a storagedelivery management service, of virtual machines in a cloud computingenvironment. These examples are meant to illustrate and not to limit thedisclosure.

EXAMPLE 1

In one embodiment, the storage delivery management system 610 receives,via a web services interface, a request from a broker computer 100 a forprovisioning of a virtual storage resource 640, such as a virtual disk,on behalf of a host computing device 106 e. In another embodiment, thehost computing device communication component 612 receives the request.In still another embodiment, the request for provisioning the virtualstorage resource 640 occurs as part of a process for provisioning avirtual machine 166 b for execution on the host computing device 106 e.In some embodiments, the virtual storage resource 640 is a virtual disk.However, it should be understood that the virtual storage resource 640may be any virtualized resource, including any of those described abovein connection with FIG. 1A.

In one embodiment, the storage delivery management service 610 transmitsthe request for provisioning of the virtual storage resource 640 to thestorage system communication component 614. In another embodiment, thestorage system communication component 614 communicates with a storagesystem adapter 634 to identify an available storage system 632 providingresources required to provision the requested virtual storage resource.In still another embodiment, the storage system communication component614 transmits an identification of the identified storage system 632 tothe storage delivery management service 610. In still even anotherembodiment, the storage system communication component 614 transmits anidentification of the provisioned virtual storage resource 640 to thestorage delivery management service 610. In yet another embodiment, thestorage delivery management service 610 stores the identification of thestorage system 632 in a database accessible to the broker computer 100a. In some embodiments, the storage system communication component 614and the storage system adapter 634 communicate according to WBEM orother storage protocol. In other embodiments, the storage systemcommunication component 614 requests CIM OM data or SMI-S dataassociated with the storage system 632 from the storage system adapter634.

In one embodiment, the broker computer 100 a receives the identificationof the storage system 632 from the host computing device communicationcomponent 612. In another embodiment, the broker computer 100 aretrieves the identification of the storage system 632 from a databaseof available storage systems. In still another embodiment, the brokercomputer 100 a confirms that the storage system 632 is able to providethe requested virtual storage resource. In yet another embodiment, thebroker computer 100 a transmits, to a host computing device 106 e, anidentification of the storage system 632.

In one embodiment, the host computing device 106 e transmits, to thehost computing device communication component 612, a request for accessto the virtual storage resource 640. In another embodiment, the hostcomputing device 106 e transmits, to the host computing devicecommunication component 612, a request for an identification of thevirtual storage resource 640. In still another embodiment, the hostcomputing device communication component 612 transmits, to the hostcomputing device 106 e, an identification of the virtual storageresource 640.

In one embodiment, the host computing device communication component 612transmits, to the host computing device 106 e, an instruction torequest, from the switch fabric 620 an enumeration of storage systems632 with which the host computing device 106 e is authorized tocommunicate. In another embodiment, the host computing device 106 ereceives, from a component in the switch fabric 620, an enumeration ofsoftware systems 632 with which the host computing device 106 e isauthorized to communicate. In still another embodiment, the hostcomputing device 106 e communicates with the storage system 632 acrossthe switch fabric 620 to access the virtual storage resource 640.

In one embodiment, the host computing device communication component 612receives, from the broker computer 100 a, a request to migrate thevirtual machine 166 b from the host computing device 106 e to a hostcomputing device 106 f. In another embodiment, the host computing devicecommunication component 612 receives, from the broker computer 100 a, anotification that a migration of the virtual machine 166 b from the hostcomputing device 106 e to a host computing device 106 f is in progress.In still another embodiment, the host computing device 106 e transmits,to at least one of the broker computer 100 a and the storage deliverymanagement service 610, a request for migration of the virtual machine166 b to a second host computing device 106 e. In still even anotherembodiment, the host computing device communication component 612receives the request to migrate the virtual machine from a controloperating system 165 a executing on at least one of the broker computer100 a, the host computing device 106 e, and a third host computingdevice 106 f, which provides management functionality for a network 38on which the host computing devices reside. In yet another embodiment,the host computing device communication component 612 receives a requestto allocate, to a second physical computing device 106 f, access to thevirtual storage resource 640. In some embodiments, the storage deliverymanagement service 610 receives the request because without access tothe virtual storage resource 640, the migration of the virtual machine166 b to the host computing device 106 f is likely to terminateunexpectedly. In other embodiments, upon receiving the request to orindication of migration, the storage delivery management service 610communicates with the components in the storage area network 630 and theswitch fabric 620 required to change the access settings for the virtualstorage resource 640 so that the second computing device may access thevirtual storage resource 640.

In one embodiment, by executing the host computing device communicationcomponent 612 and the storage system communication component 614, thestorage delivery management service 610 seamlessly transitions access toa virtual storage resource from a first computing device to a secondcomputing device. In another embodiment, by executing the fabricmanagement component 616, the storage delivery management service 610configures the switch fabric 620 to allow access to the virtual storageresource 640 by a physical computing device executing a virtual machinerequiring access to the virtual storage resource. In still anotherembodiment, by providing functionality for automatically updating accesscontrol lists and transmitting the identifiers needed to allow thestorage system 632 and the second computing device 106 to establish acommunication session and provide the virtual machine with access to thevirtual resource, the storage delivery management service 610 providesautomated, integrated support for provisioning and re-provisioningvirtual resources in cloud computing environments.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem for evaluating historical metrics in selecting a physical hostfor execution of a virtual machine. In brief overview, the systemincludes a plurality of computing devices, at least one virtual machine166, a pool management component 164 a, a host recommendation service1002, and an analysis engine 1006. As described above, one or morecomputing devices 100 may exchange data with one or more of the othercomputing devices 100 regarding processors and other physical resourcesavailable in a pool of resources, allowing a hypervisor to manage a poolof resources distributed across a plurality of physical computingdevices. In some embodiments, a computing device 100 on which a virtualmachine 166 executes is referred to as a physical host 100 or as a hostmachine 100. The pool management component 164 a executes on a firstcomputing device 106 and requests an identification of a physical host100 on which to execute a virtual machine 166. In one embodiment, thepool management component 164 a executes on the cloud bridge server 402.The host recommendation service 1002 executes on a second computingdevice 106 e and receives the request for the identification of thephysical host 100. The analysis engine 1006 executes on the secondcomputing device 106 e and receives, from the host recommendationservice 1002, the request for the identification of the physical host100. The analysis engine 1006 retrieves a plurality of metrics includinga first metric identifying a current level of load on each of aplurality of physical hosts and including a second metric identifying alevel of load on each of the plurality of physical hosts during a timeperiod prior to the current time period. The analysis engine 1006retrieves a plurality of metrics associated with the virtual machine,the plurality of metrics including at least one metric identifying alevel of load placed on a physical host by the virtual machine during atime period prior to the current time period. The analysis engine 1006determines a level of priority associated with at least one of the firstmetric identifying a current level of load on each of the plurality ofphysical hosts and the second metric identifying a level of load on eachof the plurality of physical hosts during a time period prior to thecurrent time period. The analysis engine 1006 assigns a score to each ofthe plurality of physical hosts, responsive to the retrieved pluralitiesof metrics and to the determined level of priority. The analysis engine1006 transmits, to the host recommendation service 1002, anidentification of one of the plurality of physical hosts 100 on which toexecute the virtual machine.

In some embodiments, a management component communicates with a hostrecommendation service 1002 to identify a computing device on which toexecute a virtual machine 166. In one of these embodiments, the hostrecommendation service 1002 transmits to the request to an analysisengine 1006, which evaluates present and historical metrics identifyinglevels of load on physical hosts (computing devices 100) that areavailable to execute the virtual machine 166 and applies an algorithm tothe evaluated metrics to identify an optimal physical host 100 forexecuting the virtual machine 166. In another of these embodiments, thehost recommendation service 1002 includes functionality allowing usersto identify what characteristics to optimize—for example, whether tooptimize for maximum performance of a virtual machine or to optimize formaximum density of virtual machines on physical hosts. In still anotherof these embodiments, the system includes a metrics acquisition service1004 that provides functionality for collecting performance data fromhypervisors, virtual machines, and physical hosts and generating metricsbased upon the performance data for use in identifying an optimalphysical host. In still even another of these embodiments, the hostrecommendation service 1002 includes functionality for allowingadministrators the ability to define which hypervisor hosts will bemonitored for performance data. In yet another of these embodiments, thehost recommendation service 1002 includes functionality for generatingreports regarding hypervisor and virtual machine performance data. Infurther embodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 includesfunctionality for making recommendations regarding virtual machineplacement decisions relative to physical hosts.

Referring now to FIG. 10, and in greater detail, the pool managementcomponent requests an identification of a physical host 100 on which toexecute a virtual machine 166. In one embodiment, the pool managementcomponent 164 a requests an identification of a physical host 106 f towhich to migrate a virtual machine 166 b. In another embodiment, thepool management component 164 a requests an identification of a physicalhost 106 f on which to provision a virtual machine 166 b. In someembodiments, the pool management component 164 a receives a request forexecution of a virtual machine 166. In one of these embodiments, thepool management component 164 a identifies a virtual machine imageassociated with the requested virtual machine 166. In other embodiments,the pool management component 164 a includes a transmitter sending therequest for the identification of the physical host to the hostrecommendation service 1002.

In one embodiment, the management component 164 a is referred to as apool management component. In another embodiment, a management operatingsystem 165 a, which may be referred to as a control operating system 165a, includes the management component. In some embodiments, themanagement component is referred to as a tools stack. In one of theseembodiments, the management component is the tools stack 164 describedabove in connection with FIG. 1A. In other embodiments, the managementcomponent 164 provides a user interface for receiving, from a user suchas an administrator, an identification of a virtual machine 166 toprovision and/or execute. In still other embodiments, the managementcomponent 164 provides a user interface for receiving, from a user suchas an administrator, the request for migration of a virtual machine 166b from one physical machine 100 to another. In further embodiments, themanagement component 164 a identifies a computing device 100 f on whichto execute a requested virtual machine 166 d and instructs thehypervisor 161 b on the identified computing device 106 f to execute theidentified virtual machine; such a management component may be referredto as a pool management component.

The host recommendation service 1002 receives the request for theidentification of the physical host 100 on which to execute the virtualmachine 166. In one embodiment, the host recommendation serviceretrieves an identification of a virtual machine based upon informationincluded in the request. In another embodiment, the recommendationservice 1002 executes the analysis engine 1006 upon receiving a requestfor identification of the physical host 100 on which to execute thevirtual machine 166. In some embodiments, for example, the hostrecommendation service 1002 may execute as part of a virtual machinemanagement product, such as a lab management program, provisioningsoftware, or other virtualization platform providing managementcapabilities.

In one embodiment, the host recommendation service includes a receiverfor receiving, from the pool management component 164 a, a request foran identification of a physical host on which to execute the virtualmachine 166. In another embodiment, the host recommendation serviceincludes a receiver for receiving, from the pool management component164 a, a request for an identification of a physical host to which tomigrate the virtual machine 166. In still another embodiment, the hostrecommendation service 1002 includes a user interface for receiving arequest for an identification of a physical host on which to execute thevirtual machine 166. In yet another embodiment, the host recommendationservice 1002 includes a user interface for receiving a request for anidentification of a physical host to which to migrate the virtualmachine 166.

In one embodiment, the host recommendation service 1002 includes acustomization interface for receiving an identification of acharacteristic required for execution of the virtual machine. In anotherembodiment, the host recommendation service 1002 includes acustomization interface for receiving an identification of acustomization to an algorithm applied to assign the score to each of theplurality of physical hosts. In still another embodiment, the hostrecommendation service 1002 is in communication with a reporting servicethat provides users with workload distribution and optimization reports;the reporting service may, for example, include, without limitation,functionality for displaying a report in a user interface, transmittinga report via electronic mail, implementing really simple syndication todistribute reports, and providing an application programming interface(API) allowing a user to poll for optimization recommendations andworkload reports.

In one embodiment, the host recommendation service 1002 executes theanalysis engine 1006. In another embodiment, the analysis engine appliesan algorithm to generate a score assigned to at least one of theplurality of physical hosts. In still another embodiment, the analysisengine 1006 determines, for each of the plurality of physical hosts,whether a physical host includes a characteristic required for executionof the virtual machine. In yet another embodiment, the analysis engine1006 includes a process that optimizes host/guest workload. In yetanother embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 includes a service thatgenerates recommendations for physical hosts on which to execute virtualmachines.

The analysis engine 1006 executes on the second computing device 100 cand is in communication with the host recommendation service 1002. Insome embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 is a component of the hostrecommendation service 1002. In other embodiments, the analysis engine1006 executes on a fourth computing device 106 g.

The analysis engine 1006 retrieves a plurality of metrics including afirst metric identifying a current level of load on each of a pluralityof physical hosts and including a second metric identifying a level ofload on each of the plurality of physical hosts during a time periodprior to the current time period. The analysis engine 1006 retrieves aplurality of metrics associated with the virtual machine, the pluralityof metrics including at least one metric identifying a level of loadplaced on a physical host by the virtual machine during a time periodprior to the current time period. In one embodiment, the analysis engine1006 includes a database interaction component for accessing thedatabase 1016 and retrieving a plurality of metrics from the database1016.

The analysis engine 1006 determines a level of priority associated withat least one of the first metric identifying a current level of load oneach of the plurality of physical hosts and the second metricidentifying a level of load on each of the plurality of physical hostsduring a time period prior to the current time period. In oneembodiment, a level of priority identifies a period of time toprioritize over other time periods in evaluating and assigning a scoreto a physical host. In another embodiment, a level of priorityidentifies a level of availability of a type of resource to prioritizeover other resources in evaluating and assigning a score to a physicalhost. The analysis engine 1006 assigns a score to each of the pluralityof physical hosts, responsive to the retrieved pluralities of metricsand to the determined level of priority. In one embodiment, the analysisengine 1006 applies an algorithm to at least one metric to generate ascore assigned to one of the plurality of physical hosts. In anotherembodiment, the analysis engine 1006 transmits, to the hostrecommendation service 1002, an identification of one of the pluralityof physical hosts 100 on which to execute the virtual machine.

In one embodiment, a metrics acquisition service 1004 acquiresperformance data and uses the performance data to generate a pluralityof metrics including a first metric identifying a current level of loadon each of a plurality of physical hosts and including a second metricidentifying a level of load on each of the plurality of physical hostsduring a time period prior to the current time period. In anotherembodiment, the metrics acquisition service 1004 acquires performancedata and uses the performance data to generate a plurality of metricsassociated with the virtual machine, the plurality of metrics includingat least one metric identifying a level of load placed on a physicalhost by the virtual machine during a time period prior to the currenttime period. In still another embodiment, the metrics acquisitionservice 1004 is in communication with the host recommendation service1002.

In one embodiment, the metrics acquisition service 1004 stores acquiredmetrics in a database 1016. In another embodiment, the metricsacquisition service 1004 stores data in an ODBC-compliant database. Forexample, the database 1016 may be provided as an ORACLE database,manufactured by Oracle Corporation of Redwood Shores, Calif.; as aMicrosoft ACCESS database or as a Microsoft SQL server database,manufactured by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.

In some embodiments, the metrics acquisition service 1004 is incommunication with a separate metrics generation service (not shown). Inone of these embodiments, the metrics generation service queries atleast one of the plurality of physical hosts 100 to retrieve performancedata including an identification of a level of load. In another of theseembodiments, the metrics acquisition service 1004 generates theplurality of metrics for each of the plurality of physical hosts basedupon performance data retrieved by the metrics generation service. Inother embodiments, the metrics acquisition service 1004 queries at leastone of the plurality of physical hosts for an identification of a levelof load. In one of these embodiments, the metrics acquisition service1004 generates the plurality of metrics for each of the plurality ofphysical hosts.

In some embodiments, the metrics acquisition service 1004 includes acommunications component 1010, a data collection component 1012, and adata collection manager 1014. In one of these embodiments, thecommunications component 1010 provides functionality allowing a datacollection component 1012 executing on a first computing device tocommunicate with a second data collection component 1012 executing on asecond computing device. In another of these embodiments, the datacollection manager 1014 identifies a type of hypervisor executing on acomputing device 106 f in a plurality of computing device 100. In stillanother of these embodiments, the data collection manager 1014 generatesa data collection component 1012, responsive to the identified type ofhypervisor.

In one of these embodiments, the data collection component 1012communicates with at least one hypervisor to retrieve an identificationof performance data for at least one virtual machine executing on acomputing device in a pool of computing devices (for example, acomputing device 1060; for example, the data collection component 1012may query the at least one hypervisor 161 for an identification ofperformance data for each virtual machine 166 executed by thehypervisor. In another of these embodiments, the data collectioncomponent 1012 periodically polls at least one hypervisor 161 forperformance data for at least one virtual machine 166 executed by thehypervisor 161. In still another of these embodiments, the datacollection component 1012 stores the retrieved performance data in thedatabase 1016. In yet another of these embodiments, the metricsacquisition service 1004 executes a plurality of data collectioncomponents 1012, each of the plurality of data collection components1012 communicating with and retrieving performance data from a differenttype of hypervisor.

In some embodiments, the data collection component 1012 stores collecteddata in the database 1016. In one of these embodiments, the systemincludes a queue management component for managing a queue of data to beadded to the database. In another of these embodiments, the systemincludes a queue worker component for retrieving data from a queue ofdata to be added to the database and storing the retrieved data in thedatabase 1016.

In some embodiments, the metrics acquisition service 1004 is part of thehost recommendation service 1002. In other embodiments, the metricsacquisition service 1004 executes on the same computing device 100 asthe host recommendation service 1002. In still other embodiments, themetrics acquisition service 1004 executes on a different computingdevice 106 g from the computing device on which the host recommendationservice 1002 executes. In one of these embodiments, for example, theremay be multiple metrics acquisition services 1004 in a network. Inanother of these embodiments, a computing device 100 on which themetrics acquisition service 1004 executes may be referred to as a datacollection host 100. In still another of these embodiments, there may bea data collection host 100 a that collects performance data as well asalso coordinating the collection of performance data by data collectioncomponents 1012 and metrics acquisition services 1004 that execute onother data collection hosts 100 b; such a data collection host 100 a maybe referred to as a master data collection host, with the other datacollection hosts referred to as slave data collection hosts. In yetanother of these embodiments, the master data collection host identifieshypervisors to be monitored and ensures that slave data collection hostscontinue to collect performance data for identified hypervisors.

In some embodiments, a master data collection component 1012 a of themetrics acquisition service 1004 communicates with a slave datacollection component 1012 b over an intranet or the Internet asdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 1A-1H. In other embodiments,the master data collection component 1012 a queries the database 1016 toidentify at least one data collection slave 1012 b, the hypervisor poolsto be monitored and optimized, and the relationships between hypervisorpools and data collectors; the master data collection component 1012 aassigns any unassigned hypervisor pools to a data collection host. Instill other embodiments, the master data collection component 1012 amonitors the status of slave data collection hosts and redistributesworkload in the event that one of a plurality of data collection hoststerminates data collection. In yet other embodiments, a plurality ofslave data collection components 1012 b monitor the status of the masterdata collection component 1012 a and, in the event that the master datacollection component 1012 a ceases to respond to status requests, theslave data collection components 1012 b identify a replacement masterdata collection component 1012 a from amongst the plurality of slavedata collection components 1012 b. In one of these embodiments, datacollection hosts may provide both master and slave functionality. Infurther embodiments, data collection hosts are members of mutuallytrusted domains.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a flow diagram depicts one embodiment of amethod for evaluating historical metrics in selecting a physical hostfor execution of a virtual machine. In brief overview, the methodincludes receiving, by a host recommendation service, an identificationof a virtual machine and a request for an identification of a physicalhost on which to execute the virtual machine (1102). The method includesretrieving, by an analysis engine in communication with the hostrecommendation service, a plurality of metrics for each of a pluralityof physical hosts available for executing the virtual machine, theplurality of metrics including a first metric identifying a currentlevel of load on each of the plurality of physical hosts and including asecond metric identifying a level of load on each of the plurality ofphysical hosts during a time period prior to the current time period(1104). The method includes retrieving, by the analysis engine, aplurality of metrics associated with the virtual machine, the pluralityof metrics including at least one metric identifying a level of loadplaced on a physical host by the virtual machine during a time periodprior to the current time period (1106). The method includesdetermining, by the analysis engine, a level of priority associated withat least one of the first metric identifying a current level of load oneach of the plurality of physical hosts and the second metricidentifying a level of load on each of the plurality of physical hostsduring a time period prior to the current time period (1108). The methodincludes assigning, by the host recommendation service, a score to eachof the plurality of physical hosts, responsive to the retrievedpluralities of metrics and to the determined level of priority (1110).The method includes transmitting, by the host recommendation service, anidentification of one of the plurality of physical hosts on which toexecute the virtual machine (1112). In some embodiments, computerreadable media having executable code for evaluating historical metricsin selecting a physical host for execution of a virtual machine areprovided.

Referring now to FIG. 11, and in greater detail, a host recommendationservice receives an identification of a virtual machine and a requestfor an identification of a physical host on which to execute the virtualmachine (1102). In one embodiment, the host recommendation service 1002receives the identification and the request from a pool managementcomponent 164, which manages workload on a plurality of physicalcomputing devices in a pool. In another embodiment, the hostrecommendation service 1002 receives the identification and the requestvia a user interface, such as an interface providing a user access toadministrative functionality over an intranet or the Internet. In stillanother embodiment, the host recommendation service 1002 receives anidentification of a virtual machine image used to execute the virtualmachine. In yet another embodiment, the host recommendation service 1002receives an identification of a resource desired for execution of thevirtual machine.

The analysis engine retrieves a plurality of metrics for each of aplurality of physical hosts available for executing the virtual machine,the plurality of metrics including a first metric identifying a currentlevel of load on each of the plurality of physical hosts and including asecond metric identifying a level of load on each of the plurality ofphysical hosts during a time period prior to the current time period(1104). In one embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 evaluates pluralityof metrics and assigns a score to a physical host based upon theevaluation. In another embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 accesses adatabase 1016 to retrieve the plurality of metrics. In some embodiments,multiple physical hosts may be available to execute a virtual machine.In one of these embodiments, an optimal physical host is recommended byscoring all the potential hosts and recommending the host with thehighest score; the score is calculated using metrics data and numerous,configurable criteria.

In some embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 retrieves anidentification of at least one physical host available for executing theidentified virtual machine. In one of these embodiments, the analysisengine 1006 retrieves an identification of a characteristic of the atleast one physical host; for example, an identification of acharacteristic may include, without limitation, an identification of anumber of central processing units (CPUs), an identification of aprocessing speed of a CPU, an identification of an amount of memoryavailable on a host, and an identification of a number of physicalnetwork interfaces provide by a host.

In one embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 retrieves a plurality ofmetrics including a first metric identifying a current level of load oneach of the plurality of physical hosts. In another embodiment, thecurrent level of load may include a level of load on a resource in aplurality of resources provided by each of a plurality of physicalhosts. In still another embodiment, a user may specify a definition fora period of time classified as a current period of time. In yet anotherembodiment, and by way of example, an administrator may configure theanalysis engine 1006 to retrieve a first metric identifying an averagelevel of load over a five-minute period preceding the receipt of therequest on each of the plurality of physical hosts; such a time intervalmay be referred to as a current time period.

In one embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 retrieves a plurality ofmetrics including a second metric identifying a level of load on each ofthe plurality of physical hosts during a time period prior to thecurrent time period. In another embodiment, the level of load mayinclude a level of load on a resource in a plurality of resourcesprovided by each of a plurality of physical hosts. In still anotherembodiment, a user may specify a definition for a period of timeclassified as a period of time prior to the current period of time. Inyet another embodiment, and by way of example, an administrator mayconfigure the analysis engine 1006 to retrieve a second metricidentifying an average level of load over a thirty-minute periodpreceding the five-minute period prior to receipt of the request on eachof the plurality of physical hosts; such a time interval may be referredto as a recent time period.

In one embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 retrieves a plurality ofmetrics including a third metric identifying a level of load on each ofthe plurality of physical hosts during a time period prior to the timeperiod for which the second metric identified the level of load on eachof the plurality of physical hosts. In another embodiment, the analysisengine 1006 retrieves a third metric identifying a historical level ofload on each of the plurality of physical hosts. In some embodiments,the analysis engine 1006 retrieves a third metric configured to identifyan average level of load over a substantially longer period of time thanthe second metric. In other embodiments, the analysis engine 1006retrieves a third metric configured to identify an average level of loadfor a substantially different period of time than the second metric. Instill other embodiments, as with the second metric, a user may specify adefinition for a period of time classified as a period of time prior tothe current period of time. In one of these embodiments, and by way ofexample, an administrator may configure the analysis engine 1006 toretrieve a third metric identifying an average level of load over atwenty-four hour period preceding the five-minute period prior toreceipt of the request on each of the plurality of physical hosts; sucha time interval may be referred to as a historical time period.

In one embodiment, the plurality of metrics includes a metricidentifying a threshold for utilization of a central processing unit(CPU) on a physical computing device; for example, if a computing devicehas a high or critical level of CPU utilization during the time periodfor which the analysis engine 1006 evaluates the computing device, theanalysis engine 1006 may determine that the computing device cannotexecute an additional virtual machine. In another embodiment, theplurality of metrics includes a metric identifying a threshold foravailable memory on a physical computing device; for example, if acomputing device has a high or critical level of unavailable memoryduring the time period for which the analysis engine 1006 evaluates thecomputing device, the analysis engine 1006 may determine that thecomputing device cannot execute an additional virtual machine. In stillanother embodiment, the plurality of metrics includes a metricidentifying a threshold for utilization of network resource by aphysical computing device; for example, if a computing device has a highor critical level of network interface utilization during the timeperiod for which the analysis engine 1006 evaluates the computingdevice, the analysis engine 1006 may determine that the computing devicecannot execute an additional virtual machine. In yet another embodiment,the plurality of metrics includes a metric identifying a threshold forutilization of physical block device (disk utilization) on a physicalcomputing device; for example, if a computing device has a high orcritical level of disk utilization during the time period for which theanalysis engine 1006 evaluates the computing device, the analysis engine1006 may determine that the computing device cannot execute anadditional virtual machine. In some embodiments, the analysis engine1006 evaluates a metric for a first computing device and determines thatthe first computing device can execute an additional virtual machine buthas a level of resource utilization associated with a lower score than asecond computing device; for example, the first computing device mayhave a level of resource utilization closer to a threshold (such as alevel categorized as medium or high) than the second computing devicewhich may have a lower level of resource utilization. In one of theseembodiments, the analysis engine 1006 may assign a different (e.g.,lower) score to the first computing device for that metric.

The analysis engine retrieves a plurality of metrics associated with thevirtual machine, the plurality of metrics including at least one metricidentifying a level of load placed on a physical host by the virtualmachine during a time period prior to the current time period (1106). Insome embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 accesses a database 1016 toretrieve the plurality of metrics.

In one embodiment, the plurality of metrics includes a metricidentifying a level of utilization of a central processing unit (CPU) bythe virtual machine 166. In another embodiment, the plurality of metricsincludes a metric identifying a level of utilization of memory by thevirtual machine 166. In still another embodiment, the plurality ofmetrics includes a metric identifying a level of utilization of anetwork resource by the virtual machine 166. In yet another embodiment,the plurality of metrics includes a metric identifying a level of diskutilization by the virtual machine 166. In some embodiments, theplurality of metrics includes a metric identifying an average amount ofresources required by a virtual machine; for example, the metric mayidentify, without limitation, an average amount of available memory,average amount of disk utilization, average amount of CPU utilization,and average amount of network resource utilization accessed by thevirtual machine during previous executions of the virtual machine.

In some embodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 executes acustomization interface 1008 with which a user, such as anadministrator, can configure one or more weights to apply to a pluralityof metrics and, therefore, customize a level of significance ascribed toeach of the plurality of metrics for a particular physical host indetermining whether to identify the physical host as the computingdevice on which to execute the virtual machine. In one of theseembodiments, the customization interface 1008 provides functionalityallowing a user to specify a level of priority to assign to a timeperiod during which at least one metric is generated; for example, thecustomization interface 1008 may include an interface element allowing auser to specify that metrics generated during a historical time periodare to be assigned greater level of priority than metrics generatedduring a current time period. In another of these embodiments, thecustomization interface 1008 provides functionality allowing a user tospecify a weight to apply in scoring a metric generated during auser-specified time period.

In other embodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 executes acustomization interface with which a user, such as an administrator, canconfigure one or more rules to apply in determining a score for aphysical host. In one of these embodiments, for example, a rule mayspecify a quantity of an available resource—memory, disk utilization, orCPU utilization, for example—that a physical host should provide for avirtual machine. In other embodiments, the host recommendation service1002 executes customization interface with which a user, such as anadministrator, can configure one or more optimization preferences. Inone of these embodiments, for example, a user may specify that the hostrecommendation service 1002 should assign higher scores to physicalhosts that provide resources for maximizing performance of a virtualmachine (which may be referred to as a maximum performance optimizationmode). In another of these embodiments, for example, a user may specifythat the host recommendation service 1002 should assign higher scores tophysical hosts that provide resources for a plurality of virtualmachines, minimizing the number of total physical hosts required tomanage a total workload across a plurality of physical hosts (which maybe referred to as a maximum density optimization mode). In still anotherof these embodiments, for example, a user may specify a time period inwhich the host recommendation service 1002 should operating according toan optimization mode. In yet another of these embodiments, for example,a user may specify a first time period in which the host recommendationservice 1002 should operating according to a first optimization mode anda second time period in which the host recommendation service 1002should operating according to a second optimization mode.

The analysis engine determines a level of priority associated with atleast one of the first metric identifying a current level of load oneach of the plurality of physical hosts and the second metricidentifying a level of load on each of the plurality of physical hostsduring a time period prior to the current time period (1108). In oneembodiment, the analysis engine 1006 accesses a database of data storedby the host recommendation service 1002 and identifying a level ofprioritization to apply to a metric. In another embodiment, for example,in assigning a score to the physical host providing a resource, such asdisk space or CPU utilization, the analysis engine 1006 retrieves dataidentifying a weight to apply to a level of available resourceutilization, such as a level of available disk space or a level of CPUutilization available; the analysis engine 1006 generates an initialscore for a physical host based upon an evaluation of a level ofavailability for a resource provided by the physical host, determinesthat a weight is associated with the level of availability of theresource, and modifies the initial score for the physical host basedupon the weight. In still another embodiment, and as another example,the analysis engine 1006 may retrieve data identifying a weight to applyto a time period for which a metric identifies a level of load on atleast one of the physical host and a resource provided by the physicalhost; for example, the analysis engine 1006 generates an initial scorefor a physical host, determines that an evaluated metric identifies alevel of load during a time period (e.g., the current time period or ahistoric time period) weight is associated with the metric and modifiesthe initial score according to the determined weight.

In some embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 retrieves anidentification of an algorithm to apply in identifying a physical hostto execute a virtual machine. In one of these embodiments, for example,the analysis engine 1006 retrieves an identification of an algorithmthat generates higher scores for potential hosts providing resources formaximizing performance of a virtual machine. In another of theseembodiments, and as another example, the analysis engine 1006 retrievesan identification of an algorithm that generates higher scores forpotential hosts capable of executing multiple virtual machines,resulting in maximum density of virtual machines per physical host and areduced number of physical hosts to manage a total amount of workload.In other embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 analyzes a metric in theplurality of metrics and a weight assigned to that metric in determininga level of resource utilization required by an execution of the virtualmachine 166.

The analysis engine assigns a score to each of the plurality of physicalhosts, responsive to the retrieved pluralities of metrics and to thedetermined level of priority (1110). In one embodiment, the analysisengine 1006 analyzes each of the metrics in the pluralities of metricsand assigns a score to each of the plurality of physical hosts. Inanother embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 determines, for each of theplurality of physical hosts, whether a physical computing deviceincludes a storage repository required for execution of the virtualmachine 166. In still another embodiment, the analysis engine 1006determines, for each of the plurality of physical hosts, whether aphysical computing device includes a level of available memory requiredfor execution of the virtual machine 166. In yet another embodiment, theanalysis engine 1006 determines, for each of the plurality of physicalhosts, whether a physical computing device includes a level of availableCPU required for execution of the virtual machine 166. In someembodiments, the analysis engine 1006 evaluates pool configuration data,host configuration data, and the pluralities of metrics to determine ascore for each of the plurality of physical hosts.

In one embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 identifies a first physicalhost in the plurality of physical hosts for execution of the virtualmachine, the first physical host having a higher score than a secondphysical host in the plurality of physical hosts. In another embodiment,the analysis engine 1006 identifies a first physical host in theplurality of physical hosts for execution of the virtual machine, thefirst physical host including at least one characteristic required forexecution of the virtual machine as identified by a weight associatedwith a metric prioritizing a high level of availability of the at leastone characteristic. In some embodiments, the analysis engine 1006identifies a first physical host in the plurality of physical hosts forexecution of the virtual machine, the first physical host executing asecond virtual machine. In one of these embodiments, the analysis engine1006 identifies a first physical host executing a plurality of virtualmachines in order to maximize the density of virtual machines perphysical host in the plurality of physical hosts.

In some embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 identifies a physical hostexecuting multiple processors or a parallel processor with one or morecores. In one of these embodiments, for example, the physical host maybe a computing device 100 as described above in connection with FIGS.1A-1H. In another of these embodiments, the analysis engine 1006identifies a processor in a plurality of processors on which to executethe virtual machine. In still another of these embodiments, the analysisengine 1006 identifies a portion of a multicore processor with which toexecute the virtual machine. In yet another of these embodiments, theanalysis engine 1006 identifies a subset of available processors on aphysical host for execution of a virtual machine. In other embodiments,the analysis engine 1006 identifies both a physical host and a subset ofavailable processors on a physical host for execution of a virtualmachine. In still other embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 receivesan identification of a physical host and, implementing the methodsdescribed herein, identifies a processor in a plurality of processors onwhich to execute a virtual machine.

In one embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 selects a physical host forexecution of the virtual machine such that workload is distributedsubstantially evenly across a plurality of physical computing devices100 in order to maximize the performance of each virtual machine. Inanother embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 selects a physical host forexecution of the virtual machine such that each physical host in theplurality of computing devices hosts as many virtual machines as thephysical host has resources to support, in order to minimize the numberof physical hosts. In some embodiments, the analysis engine 1006executes a customization interface with which a user, such as anadministrator, can select an optimization mode in which the analysisengine 1006 should execute; for example, the administrator may configurethe analysis engine 1006 to prioritize performance, placing a virtualmachine on a physical host that will provide improved performance forthe virtual machine, or, in another example, the administrator mayconfigure the analysis engine 1006 to maximize density, minimizing thenumber of physical hosts required to run a total number of virtualmachines (the workload for the pool of physical hosts).

In one embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 assigns a score including asub-score assigned to a resource provided by each of the plurality ofphysical hosts, responsive to the retrieved pluralities of metrics. Inanother embodiment, the analysis engine 1006 generates a score basedupon a plurality of sub-scores including scores assigned to, withoutlimitation, a level of available CPU utilization, a level of availablememory, a level of available network resource utilization, and a levelof available disk utilization. In still another embodiment, each of aplurality of sub-scores are divided into metrics from a plurality ofdifferent time periods; for example, the plurality of different timeperiods may include a current time period, a recent time period, and ahistorical time period. In yet another embodiment, a level of availableutilization of a resource is adjusted based on an anticipated level ofutilization by the virtual machine; for example, an initial level ofavailable CPU utilization may be identified as a percentage of total CPUutilization available and then reduced by an amount of CPU utilizationused by the virtual machine in previous sessions.

In some embodiments, in which the analysis engine 1006 distributesvirtual machine workload to as few physical hosts as possible, thescoring process may include computing a scaling factor to allow for abalance between performance and density with extra weights appliedtowards density. In other embodiments, in which the analysis engine 1006distributes virtual machine workload to physical hosts able to maximizethe performance of each virtual machine, the analysis engine 1006 maysort a plurality of virtual machines for which it has received requestsfor identifications of physical hosts, sorting the plurality of virtualmachines into an enumerated list that, for example, places virtualmachines with higher scores—and, therefore, greater requirements forresources than other virtual machines—at the beginning of the list. Inone of these embodiments, by identifying a physical host for a virtualmachine with a higher score sooner than for a virtual machine with alower score, the analysis engine 1006 increases the probability that aphysical host with the resources to maximize performance of the virtualmachine will be available.

The host recommendation service transmits an identification of one ofthe plurality of physical hosts on which to execute the virtual machine(1112). In one embodiment, the analysis engine transmits theidentification of one of the plurality of physical hosts on which toexecute the virtual machine to the host recommendation service 1002. Insome embodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 transmits theidentification to the pool management component 164 a. In otherembodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 directs a display ofthe identification in a user interface from which the hostrecommendation service 1002 received the request. In other embodiments,the host recommendation service 1002 transmits data identifyingworkload-related trends with the identification. In further embodiments,the host recommendation service 1002 transmits workload-related reportswith the identification.

In some embodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 provides pooloptimization recommendations. In one of these embodiments, the analysisengine 1006 generates a pool optimization recommendation. In another ofthese embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 monitors a plurality ofmetrics for each of a plurality of physical hosts in a pool. In stillanother of these embodiments, the analysis engine 1006 determines, foreach of the plurality of physical hosts, whether, for any of the metricsin the plurality of metrics, the physical hosts exceeds a configuredlimit for a specified threshold of time; for example, the analysisengine 1006 may determine that a physical host 106 f has exceeded athreshold limiting an amount of CPU utilization. In another of theseembodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 recommends migrationof a virtual machine from a physical host that exceeds a threshold to adifferent physical host in order to optimize distribution of workloadthroughout the pool of physical hosts; the host recommendation service1002 may identify the physical host to which to migrate the virtualmachine using the methods and systems described above. In yet another ofthese embodiments, the host recommendation service 1002 provides a userwith a notification of the exceeded threshold and any migrationrecommendations identified.

In some embodiments, the methods and systems described herein providefunctionality facilitating the identification of physical hosts on whichto execute virtual machines. In one of these embodiments, by evaluatinghistorical data associated with both the physical hosts and the virtualmachines, the methods and systems described herein provide optimizedplacement of virtual machines and improved management of workload levelsfor a plurality of physical hosts.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a block diagram depicts an embodiment of asystem for adaptively load balancing user sessions and dynamicallymanaging power modes for a plurality of servers 106 to reduce energyconsumption. In brief overview, the system includes a power managementcontroller 1206, a power management console 1222, a storage device 1290storing a power management schedule 1212, and a plurality of servers 106monitored by at least one power management agent 1220. The powermanagement console 1222 identifies a session type for each of aplurality of user sessions, defines a server group providing access to asubset of the plurality of user sessions having a common session type,and defines a power management schedule 1212 for the server group. Thepower management controller 1206 consolidates, onto at least one server106 in the server group, the subset of the plurality of user sessions.The power management agent 1220 monitors a level of load on one of theplurality of servers 106. The power management console 1222, incommunication with the power management agent 1220, defines a powermanagement schedule 1212 for the one of the plurality of servers 106,the power management schedule 1212 generated responsive to the monitoredlevel of load. The power management controller 1206, in communicationwith the power management console 1222 and the power management agent1220, dynamically controls a level of power to the one of the pluralityof servers 106, responsive to the power management schedule 1212.

In one embodiment, the at least one power management agent 1220transmits information associated with user sessions provided by theplurality of servers 106, to at least one of the power managementconsole 1222 and the power management controller 1206. In anotherembodiment, the power management console 1222 identifies a subset of theuser sessions of a common session type and defines a server group toprovide the subset of user sessions, responsive to the providedinformation. In still another embodiment, the power management console1222 defines a power management schedule 1212 for the server group basedon loading characteristics of the session type, to manage energyconsumption. In yet another embodiment, the power management controller1206, based on loading information received from the at least one powermanagement agent 1220, and the power management schedule, controls thepower level of a server 106 to reduce overall energy consumption.

Referring now to FIG. 12, and in greater detail, the system includes aserver farm 38, the server farm 38 including a plurality of servers 106a-n (hereafter referred to generally as “a plurality of servers 106”).In one embodiment, the storage device 1290 resides in a machine 106′(not shown). In another embodiment, the plurality of servers 106, thepower management controller 1206, the power management console 1222 andthe machine 106′ may be any type of computing device 100 described abovein connection with FIGS. 1A-1I.

In one embodiment, a plurality of servers 106 provides users of clientmachines 102 with access to networked resources. In another embodiment,each of the plurality of servers 106 may provide at least one usersession to at least one client 102. In still another embodiment, one ofthe plurality of servers 106 providing access to a user session mayexecute one or more applications or process one or more files. In stilleven another embodiment, providing access to a network resource such asa resource accessed within a user session or the user session itself,places a computational burden on the server 106—a level of load. In yetanother embodiment, the level of load associated with a user sessionrepresents, for example, processing resources used in executing one ormore resources or processing one or more data files to the user.

In one embodiment, the level of load associated with a user sessionrepresents the total amount of processing resources associated with theuser session, such as the accumulated processing resources utilized overa predetermined period of time. In another embodiment, the level of loadassociated with a user session represents the average amount ofprocessing resources associated with the user session, derived from anytype of statistical averaging such as arithmetic mean, geometric mean,harmonic mean, median and mode. In still another embodiment, thestatistical averaging may be an instantaneous average, or an averagingperformed over any duration of time. In yet another embodiment, theaverage amount of processing resources associated with the user sessionis a predicted value determined from a history of the processingresources utilized over a predetermined period of time.

In some embodiments, a level of load represents how many processes arein a queue for access to a processor in a server 106. In otherembodiments, a level of load is a measure of work a system is doing. Infurther embodiments, a level of load is determined using techniquesknown to one ordinarily skilled in the art.

In one embodiment, the level of load associated with a user session maybe determined from performance metrics associated with the server 106providing the user session. In another embodiment, the performancemetrics may include central processing unit (CPU) load, memory usage,paging activity, network activity, disk activity, and end-userperformance metrics such as response latency. In still anotherembodiment, a power management agent 1220 monitors the performancemetrics on the server 106.

In one embodiment, the power management agent 1220 may includefunctionality provided by a monitoring agent 244, 297, 1604, a serveragent 1824, or a client agent 120, residing in a server 106, a client102, or a machine. In another embodiment, each of the plurality ofservers 106 includes a power management agent 1220. In still anotherembodiment, the plurality of servers 106 includes at least one powermanagement agent 1220. In yet another embodiment, a power managementagent 1220 monitors the performance metrics associated with a subset ofthe plurality of servers 106.

In one embodiment, the power management agent 1220 monitors a level ofload associated with providing at least one user session, based on themonitored performance metrics, and communicates the level of load to apower management console 1222. In another embodiment, the powermanagement agent 1220 transmits the performance metrics to a powermanagement console 1222. In still another embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 determines a level of load associated with auser session, based on the received performance metrics.

In one embodiment, the power management agent 1220 may associate a valuefrom each monitored performance metric with each of a plurality of usersessions. In another embodiment, the power management agent 1220determines the level of load associated with one of the plurality ofuser sessions based on the associated values. In still anotherembodiment, the power management agent 1220 communicates the determinedlevel of load to a power management console 1222. In still even anotherembodiment, the power management agent 1220 transmits the performancemetrics and values associated with a server 106 to a power managementconsole 1222. In yet another of these embodiments, the power managementconsole 1222 determines a level of load associated with a user session,based on the received performance metrics and values. In someembodiments, information associated with a level of load, andperformance metrics and values associated with a user session ishereinafter referred to generally as “load information”.

In one embodiment, the power management agent 1220 transmits loadinformation to at least one of the power management console 1222 and thepower management controller 1206. In another embodiment, the loadinformation is transmitted on a regular basis, such as at a fixed timeinterval or according to a schedule. In another embodiment, the powermanagement agent 1220 transmits the load information in response to arequest from the power management console 1222 or the power managementcontroller 1206. For example, a user may initiate a request from a userinterface 1224 provided by the power management console 1222. In stillanother embodiment, a plurality of power management agents 1220 may workin concert or individually. For example, each of the plurality of powermanagement agent 1220 may monitor a subset of the plurality of servers106 or the server farm 38, and a central power management agent 1220 maycollect the load information monitored by the plurality of powermanagement agent 1220 before transmitting to at least one of the powermanagement console 1222 and the power management controller 1206.

In one embodiment, the power management agent 1220 provides, to at leastone of the power management console 1222 and the power managementcontroller 1206, information for identifying a session type for at leastone of the plurality of user sessions. In another embodiment, theinformation for identifying a session type for at least one of theplurality of user sessions includes load information. In still anotherembodiment, the information for identifying a session type for at leastone of the plurality of user sessions includes information related toany application or data file included in the user session.

In one embodiment, an agent provided by a monitoring system transmitsthe performance metrics and values associated with a server 106 to atleast one of the power management console 1222 and the power managementcontroller 1206. In another embodiment, an agent provided by amonitoring system transmits load information to at least one of thepower management console 1222 and the power management controller 1206.In still another embodiment, an agent provided by a monitoring systemprovides, to at least one of the power management console 1222 and thepower management controller 1206, information for identifying a sessiontype for at least one of the plurality of user sessions. In yet anotherembodiment, the monitoring system is a CITRIX EDGESIGHT system. In someembodiments, the agent includes functionality provided by a monitoringagent 244,297, 1604, a server agent 824, or a client agent 120.

In one embodiment, a workflow system provides performance metrics andvalues associated with a server 106 to at least one of the powermanagement console 1222 and the power management controller 1206. Inanother embodiment, a workflow system provides load information to atleast one of the power management console 1222 and the power managementcontroller 1206. In still another embodiment, a workflow systemprovides, to at least one of the power management console 1222 and thepower management controller 1206, information for identifying a sessiontype for at least one of the plurality of user sessions. In yet anotherembodiment, the workflow system is a CITRIX WORKFLOW STUDIO system.

In one embodiment, the information for identifying a session typeincludes information related to the usage profile or temporal nature ofthe user session, or the application or data file in the user session.For example, a user session or an application in the user session may becharacterized as persistent or long-lived (such as a desktop session oran email client). In another embodiment, a user session or anapplication in the user session may be characterized as temporary,transient or short-lived (such as a telnet session or a web browser). Instill another embodiment, a user session or an application in the usersession may be characterized as ad-hoc (such as a file transfer protocolsession or a fax software). In yet another embodiment, a user session oran application in the user session may be characterized as having acyclic load pattern (such as a point-of-sale software application thatis typically used heavily typically during the business hours of a day).

The power management console 1222 provides an interface for identifyinga session type for each of a plurality of user sessions, defining aserver group providing access to a subset of the plurality of usersessions having a common session type, and defining a power managementschedule 1212 for the server group. The power management console 1222,in communication with the power management agent 1220, defines a powermanagement schedule 1212 for one of the plurality of servers 106, thepower management schedule 1212 generated responsive to the monitoredlevel of load. In one embodiment, the power management console 1222receives, from the power management agent 1220, the information foridentifying a session type for each of the plurality of user sessions.In another embodiment, the power management console 1222 provides aninterface for identifying a session type for each of the plurality ofuser sessions. In still another embodiment, the power management console1222 automatically identifies a session type for each of the pluralityof user sessions, responsive to the information received from the powermanagement agent 1220. In yet another embodiment, a user identifies, viathe provided interface, a session type for each of the plurality of usersessions.

In one embodiment, the session type for a user session is identified asan application session. For example, server 1206 may provide at leastone application within an application session—such as a word processingor presentation program, (e.g., MICROSOFT POWERPOINT). In anotherembodiment, the session type for a user session is identified as adesktop session. For example, a server can provide a desktop session toa user at a client 102 from which the user may access a desktopenvironment that includes one or more applications and/or one or moredata files. In still another embodiment, the session type for a usersession is identified as a connection to a virtual machine. For example,the server 106 executes a hypervisor that provides a plurality ofvirtual machines on the server 106, and each of the plurality of virtualmachines may be accessed via a connection to a client 102.

In one embodiment, a session type may be identified as a broad sessiontype. In another embodiment, a broad session type may be furtherclassified into a plurality of session types. For example, anapplication session, identified as a broad session type, may be furtherspecified as one of a plurality of session types based on the usageprofile or temporal nature of the application session. For example, anapplication or desktop session may be specified as one of the followingsession types: persistent, temporary, ad hoc and cyclic.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 receives, from apower management agent 1220, load information associated with a usersession. In another embodiment, the power management console 1222provides an interface for identifying a level of load, responsive to thereceived load information associated with a user session. In stillanother embodiment, the identified level of load is associated with thesession type of the user session.

The power management console 1222 provides an interface 1224 fordefining a server group providing access to a subset of the plurality ofuser sessions having a common session type. In one embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 provides a user an interface 1224 for defining aserver group. In another embodiment, a subset of the plurality of usersessions is identified as having a common session type. In still anotherembodiment, a server group provides access to a subset of the pluralityof user sessions having a common session type. In yet anotherembodiment, a server group includes at least one server 106substantially optimized to provide user sessions of a common sessiontype. For example, servers including an AMD OPTERON processor aresubstantially optimized to execute 64-bit applications processing largedata files. In still even another embodiment, a server group may includeat least one server 106 substantially optimized to consume less powerwhen providing a user session of a certain session type. For example,blade servers may be less power intensive than standalone desktopcomputers for executing a plurality of point-of-sale software programs.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 provides aninterface 1224 for defining a power management schedule 1212 for aserver 106 in a plurality of servers 106. In another embodiment, thepower management console 1222 provides an interface for defining a powermanagement schedule 1212 for a server group. In still anotherembodiment, the power management console 1222 automatically defines thepower management schedule 1212 responsive to identifying a session typefor each of the plurality of user sessions. In yet another embodiment,the power management console 1222 automatically defines the powermanagement schedule 1212 for a server group, responsive to defining theserver group providing access to the subset of the plurality of usersessions having a common session type.

In one embodiment, a power management schedule 1212 indicates the peakand off-peak periods for at least one of the plurality of servers 106.In another embodiment, a peak period identifies a time period duringwhich the at least one of the plurality of servers 106 should be keptpowered up for providing at least one user sessions. In still anotherembodiment, an off peak period identifies a time period during which theat least one of the plurality of servers 106 can be shutdown or placedin a low-power mode. In yet another embodiment, a power managementschedule 1212 may indicate time periods during which the at least one ofthe plurality of servers 106 is kept at a certain level of power, whichmay include a powered-down, a low power, an intermediate-power, and ahigh-power level. For example, a low power level may be represented byany of a sleep, dormant, standby, hibernation, power-saving, orlow-power wait mode; an intermediate-power level may be represented bypowering-down a subset of processors in a multi-core system.

In one embodiment, a power management schedule 1212 can be applied to asingle server 106, a subset of the plurality of servers 106, a servergroup, or a server farm 38. In another embodiment, the power managementschedule 1212 includes recommended directives for placing a server 106in a certain level of power. In still another embodiment, the powermanagement schedule 1212 includes compulsory directives for placing aserver 106 in a certain level of power. In yet another embodiment, thepower management schedule 1212 is stored in a storage device 1290.

In one embodiment, the storage device 1290 may be any type of memory 122described above in connection with FIGS. 1B-1C. In another embodiment,the storage device 1290 may include a plurality of distributed storagedevices residing in one or more of the plurality of servers 106, thepower management console 1222, the power management controller 1206, andany other machine connected to the network 104. In still anotherembodiment, the storage device 1290 may be a persistent storage or adynamic storage. In yet another embodiment, the storage device 1290 is avirtual disk provided in a virtual machine environment.

In one embodiment, the storage device 1290 may store at least one powermanagement schedule 1212. In another embodiment, the storage device 1290may store any form or type of information such as a level of load orpower associated with a server 106 in the server farm 38, and lists ofservers 106, user sessions, session types and server groups. In stillanother embodiment, the storage device 1290 provides information fordisplay, via an interface 1224 provided by the power management console1222, to a user.

In one embodiment, a user provides a power management schedule 1212 tothe storage device 1290 via the interface 1224 provided by the powermanagement console 1222. In another embodiment, the interface 1224 mayreceive a power management schedule 1212 from a user via a file. Instill another embodiment, the interface 1224 is a command promptinterface. In yet another embodiment, the interface 1224 is a graphicaluser interface (GUI). In still even another embodiment, a user maygenerate a power management schedule 1212, via the provided interface.

In one embodiment, the interface 1224 may provide any form or type ofinformation to help a user generate a power management schedule 1212. Inanother embodiment, the provided interface 1224 may provide arepresentation of the plurality of servers 106 in the server farm 38,the server groups, the plurality of user sessions and their associatedsession types, and the monitored level of load and power of a server 106or the server farm 38. In still another embodiment, the providedinterface 1224 may provide color coding and other visual aids to therepresentation, for example, to highlight an instance of server 106loaded above a predetermined level of load or service level. In yetanother embodiment, a hierarchical or structured representation of theserver farm 38, server groups, and individual servers 106 may beprovided as nodes in a GUI that can be collapsed or expanded via mouseor keyboard operations, for example. In still even another embodiment,the nodes may be expanded to reveal additional hierarchy and/orinformation, or collapsed to hide some hierarchy and/or information.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 dynamically changesthe power management schedule 1212 for the server group, responsive to achange in a level of load on at least one server 106 in the servergroup. In another embodiment, the power management controller 1206dynamically changes the power management schedule 1212 for the servergroup, responsive to a change in a level of load on at least one server106 in the server group. In still another embodiment, the change in thelevel of load on the at least one server 106 a in the server group mayinclude exceeding a predetermined service level threshold such thatanother server 106 b should be powered-up or revived from low-powermode, for example, to respond to a request for a new user session. Inyet another embodiment, the change in the level of load may includefalling below a predetermined service level threshold such that theserver 106 a can be powered-down or placed in low-power mode, forexample, by migrating, in real-time, a virtual machine from the server106 a to another server 106 b. In still even another embodiment, aserver 106 may be powered-up or power-down for example, in anticipationfor further changes in the level of load that may require higher orlower server capacity from the server group.

The power management controller 1206 consolidates, onto at least oneserver 106 in the server group, the subset of the plurality of usersessions. In one embodiment, a power management controller 1206consolidates a subset of a plurality of user sessions having a commonsession type onto at least one server 106 in a server group. In anotherembodiment, the power management controller 1206 consolidates, onto atleast one server 106 substantially optimized for a session type, thesubset of the plurality of user sessions of the session type. In stillanother embodiment, a power management controller 1206 consolidates asubset of a plurality of user sessions having one or more session typesonto at least one server 106 in a server group.

In one embodiment, a power management controller 1206 evaluates a powermanagement schedule 1212 to determine whether to change a level of poweron a server 106. In another embodiment, a power management controller1206, in communication with the power management console and the powermanagement agent 1220, dynamically controls a level of power to theserver 106, responsive to the power management schedule. In stillanother embodiment, the power management controller 1206 includes anagent (not shown) to generate a command to the power management agent1220 on the first server 106 a to power down or enter into a low-powermode. For example, in one embodiment, a power management controller 1206may duplicate session state associated with a desktop session providedby a first server 106 a to a client 102, on a second server 106 b, andreplace the user's access to the desktop session provided by the firstserver 106 a with access to the duplicated desktop session provided bythe second server 106 b; the power management controller 1206 may thenpower down the first server 106 a. In yet another embodiment, the powermanagement controller 1206 may migrate, in real-time, a virtual machineexecuting on a first server 106 a to a second server 106 b. In stillanother embodiment, the power management controller 1206 may consolidateall new user sessions having the common session type onto at least oneserver 106 in a server group.

In some embodiments, the power management controller 1206 includes anagent (not shown) to dynamically allocate an available resource withinthe server group. In other embodiments, the power management controller1206 may provide a control system that evaluates the monitored level ofload. In one of these embodiments, the control system includes afeedback mechanism to predict the level of load. In another of theseembodiments, the control system may be able to react to moderatelychanging levels of load but not fast-changing levels of load. In stillother embodiments, the power management controller 1206 may provide adynamic response system to respond to fast-changing levels of load. Inone of these embodiments, the dynamic response system may override acontrol system. In another of these embodiments, the dynamic responsesystem may operate only when fast-changing levels of load are detectedby the agent.

In one embodiment, a resource within the server group may be a processorin a multi-processor system, memory, a communication port, a bus, avirtual server 1275, or a server 106. In another embodiment, the powermanagement controller 1206 may allocate or re-allocate a resource toprovide user sessions within a server group. In still anotherembodiment, when a server group is overloaded with user sessions, thepower management controller 1206 may allocate or re-allocate a resourceacross server groups. In still another embodiment, the power managementcontroller 1206 may relocate at least one of the subset of the pluralityof user sessions from a first server 106 a in the server group to asecond server 106 b in the server group. In still even anotherembodiment, the power management controller 1206 may relocate at leastone of the subset of the plurality of user sessions from a first server106 a in a first server group to a second server 106 b in a secondserver group. In still another embodiment, the second server 106 b maybe powered up or revived from a power-saving mode to provide torelocated user sessions. In yet another embodiment, the power managementcontroller 1206 generates a command to at least one power managementagent 1220 to relocate a user session, power up a server 106, or revivea server 106.

In one embodiment, the power management controller 1206 dynamicallychanges the power management schedule 1212 for a server group,responsive to a change in a level of load on at least one server 106 inthe server group. In another embodiment, the power management controller1206 updates the power management schedule 1212 in response to at leastone of the control system and the dynamic response system. In stillanother embodiment, the power management controller 1206 dynamicallyallocates or re-allocates a resource, or dynamically relocates a usersession between two servers 106, without changing the power managementschedule 1212. In yet another embodiment, the power managementcontroller 1206 selects a power management schedule 1212, responsive toa change in a level of load on at least one server 106 in the servergroup, the power management schedule 1212 selected from at least onepower management schedule 1212 stored in the storage device 1290.

The power management controller 1206, in communication with the powermanagement console 1222 and the power management agent 1212, dynamicallycontrols a level of power to the one of the plurality of servers 106,responsive to the power management schedule 1212. In one embodiment, anagent in the power management controller 1206 generates a command todirect a power management agent 1220 to change the level of power on aserver 106. In another embodiment, the agent generates a command todirect a power management agent 1220 to place a server 106 in apower-down, low-power, intermediate-power, or high power state. In stillanother embodiment, the power management controller 1206 includes atransmitter (not shown) for sending a command to the power managementagent 1220 to place the server 106 in a power-down, low-power,intermediate-power, or high power state. In yet another embodiment, thecommand may be transmitted to at least one power management agent 1220to relocate one or more user sessions between servers 106, for examplein conjunction with changing the level of power on a server 106.

In one embodiment, the power management controller 1206 receives statusinformation associated with a server 106 from a power management agent1220 in addition to load information. In another embodiment, the powermanagement controller 1206 uses the status information to determineservice limits on the server 106. For example, a service limit mayinclude a predetermined level of memory swapping on a server 106 abovewhich will result in reduced performance in an executing an applicationeven though the CPU load is low. In still another embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 uses service limits in response to a powermanagement schedule 1212 and/or a monitored level of load to determinewhether to modify the power management schedule 1212, allocate orre-allocate a resource, or relocate a user session. In yet anotherembodiment, the absence of status information associated with a server106 from a power management agent 1220 indicates that the server 106 isin a powered-down mode. In yet another embodiment, a transmission from apower management agent 1220 acts as a “heart beat” signal indicatingthat a server 106 is responsive and functional.

In one embodiment, the power management controller 1206 directs thepower management agent 1220, in conjunction with a plurality of externalpower control means, to control a level of power of a server 106. Forexample, in the case of blade servers in an intelligent chassis, thepower management agent 1220 can transmit a command to the intelligentchassis to power up or power down individual blade servers in thechassis. In another embodiment, the agent can transmit a command tocontrol the power to a server 106 through network accessible powerdistribution controllers and/or uninterruptible power systems. In stillanother embodiment, the power management controller 1206 can instructthe operating system of a server 106, via a power management agent 1220,to direct the server 106 go into any power mode, and may make use offacilities such as Wake On LAN (WOL) to direct the server 106 to comeout of a low power state. In yet another embodiment, WOL is a networkingstandard that allows a machine to be powered on or woken up remotely bya network message to the machine's network card or motherboard.

In one embodiment, the power management controller 1206 can send acommand to a server's baseboard management controller, via a powermanagement agent 1220, to control a level of power of the server 106,such as directing the server 106 to come out of a low power state. Inanother embodiment, the baseboard management controller is independentof the server's main processor and remains powered up when the server106 is powered down. In still another embodiment, the power managementagent 1220, may or may not reside on the server 106, and remainsoperational or powered up when the server 106 is powered down.

In one embodiment, by dynamically altering the number of active servers106 available, the power management controller 1206 may trigger servicelimits such that other load evaluators (such as a load balancingcontroller) may attempt to spread the user session load across theserver farm 38. In another embodiment, the consolidation process forreducing energy consumption can adapt to operate with a substantiallyoptimal level of load on each server 106 using a minimal number ofservers 106 while meeting minimum service levels.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a flow diagram depicts one embodiment of thesteps taken in a method 300 for adaptively load balancing user sessionsto reduce energy consumption. In brief overview, the method includesidentifying a session type for each of a plurality of user sessions(1312). The method includes defining a server group providing access toa subset of the plurality of user sessions having a common session type(1314). The method includes defining a power management schedule 1212for the server group (1316). The method includes consolidating, onto atleast one server 106 in the server group, the subset of the plurality ofuser sessions (1318).

Referring now to FIG. 13, and in greater detail, a power managementconsole 1222 provides an interface 1224 for identifying a session typefor each of a plurality of user sessions (1312). In one embodiment, asession type for each of a plurality of user sessions is identifiedbased on information provided by a power management agent 1220, theinformation related to each of the plurality of user sessions. Inanother embodiment, the power management console 1222 receives, from thepower management agent 1220, information for identifying a session typefor each of the plurality of user sessions. In still another embodiment,the power management agent 1220 monitors a change in a level of load ineach of the plurality of user sessions. In yet another embodiment, thepower management agent 1220 provides load information to the powermanagement console 1222, to identify the session type for each of theplurality of user sessions, wherein the load information includes amonitored change in a level of load in each of the plurality of usersessions. In still even another embodiment, the power management agent1220 provides information related to any application or data fileincluded in each of the plurality of user sessions, to identify thesession type for each of the plurality of user sessions.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 automaticallyidentifies the session type for each of the plurality of user sessions,based on the received information. In another embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 displays the received information, via theinterface 1224, to a user. In still another embodiment, a user definesthe session type for each of the plurality of user sessions, via theinterface 1224 provided by the power management console 1222 based onthe displayed information. In yet another embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 displays the session type for each of theplurality of user sessions to a user, via the interface 1224.

The power management console 1222 provides an interface 1224 fordefining a server group providing access to a subset of the plurality ofuser sessions having a common session type (1314). In one embodiment,the power management console 1222 automatically defines a server groupproviding access to a subset of the plurality of user sessions having acommon session type, responsive to identifying a session type for eachof the plurality of user sessions. In another embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 automatically defines a server group providingaccess to a subset of the plurality of user sessions having a commonsession type, responsive to the information received from at least onepower management agent 1220. In still another embodiment, a userdefines, via an interface 1224 provided by the power management console1222, a server group providing access to a subset of the plurality ofuser sessions having a common session type.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 defines a servergroup including at least one server 106 substantially optimized toprovide user sessions of a common session type. In another embodiment, auser defines, via an interface provided by the power management console1222, a server group including at least one server 106 substantiallyoptimized to provide user sessions of a common session type. In stillanother embodiment, the user or the power management console 1222selects the server 106 substantially optimized to provide user sessionsof a common session type from the plurality of servers 106 in the serverfarm 38. In yet another embodiment, the user or the power managementconsole 1222 defines the size of the server group, for example, based onthe size of the plurality of user sessions and the monitored level ofload on each of the plurality of user sessions.

The power management console 1222 provides an interface 1224 fordefining a power management schedule for the server group (1316). In oneembodiment, a user defines, via an interface 1224 provided by the powermanagement console 1222, a power management schedule 1212 for the servergroup. In another embodiment, the power management console 1222automatically defines a power management schedule 1212 for the servergroup, based on the received information from at least one powermanagement agent 1220. In still another embodiment, the power managementconsole 1222 or user selects a power management schedule 1212 for theserver group, the power management schedule 1212 selected from at leastone power management schedule 1212 stored in the storage device 1290. Inyet another embodiment, the power management schedule 1212 is definedresponsive to the definition of a server group. In still even anotherembodiment, a power management schedule 1212 is defined for at least oneserver 106 in a server group.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 dynamicallymodifies a power management schedule 1212 for the server group,responsive to a change in a level of load associated with a server 106.In another embodiment, the power management controller 1206 dynamicallymodifies the power management schedule for the server group, responsiveto a change in a level of load associated with a server 106. In stillanother embodiment, an agent in the power management controller 1206dynamically allocates or re-allocates an available resource within theserver group, for example power up a server 106, responsive to a changein a level of load associated with a server 106. In yet anotherembodiment, an agent in the power management controller 1206 generates acommand to at least one power management agent 1220 to allocate orre-allocate an available resource within the server group. In still evenanother embodiment, a transmitter on the power management console 1222transmits the generated command to the at least one power managementagent 1220.

In one embodiment, an agent in the power management controller 1206generates a command to at least one power management agent 1220 torelocate at least one user session from a first server 106 a in theserver group to a second server 106 b in the server group. In anotherembodiment, a transmitter on the power management console 1222 transmitsthe generated command to the at least one power management agent 1220 torelocate the at least one user session from a first server 106 a in theserver group to a second server 106 b in the server group. In stillanother embodiment, an agent in the power management controller 1206generates a command to the power management agent 1220 associated withthe first server 106 a to power down the first server 106 a in theserver group. In still even another embodiment, a transmitter on thepower management controller 1206 transmits the generated command to thepower management agent 1220 associated with the first server 106 a topower down the first server 106 a in the server group. In yet anotherembodiment, a user session may be relocated to a server 106 thatconsumes a lower level of power.

The power management controller 1206 consolidates, onto at least oneserver in the server group, the subset of the plurality of user sessions(1318). In one embodiment, the agent in the power management controller1206 generates a command for at least one power management agent 1220 toconsolidate, onto at least one server 106 in the server group, thesubset of the plurality of user sessions. In another embodiment, atransmitter on the power management controller 1206 transmits thecommand to the at least one power management agent 1220 to consolidate,onto the at least one server 106 in the server group, the subset of theplurality of user sessions.

In one embodiment, using the methods and systems described hereinresults in the generation of a power management schedule 1212 applicableto each of a plurality of servers 106 and generated responsive to anattribute—such as a level of load or performance metric—of each of theplurality of servers 106. In another embodiment, using the methods andsystems described herein results in a plurality of servers 106identified as providing users with access to resources having a commonsession type—for example, providing users with access to resourcesplacing substantially similar levels of load on servers 106 or toresources within sessions having substantially similar access times orlength of access time—and in which a plurality of users sessions areconsolidated onto the plurality of servers 106.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a flow diagram depicts one embodiment of thesteps taken in a method 1400 for reducing energy consumption bydynamically managing power modes for a plurality of servers. In briefsummary, the method includes monitoring, via a power monitoring agent1220, a level of load on one of a plurality of servers (1402). Themethod includes generating, by a power management console 1222, a powermanagement schedule 1212 for a server in the plurality of servers 106,responsive to the monitored level of load (1404). The method includesdynamically controlling, by a power management controller 1206, a levelof power for the server 106, responsive to the power management schedule1212 (1406).

Referring now to FIG. 14, and in greater detail, a power monitoringagent 1220 monitors a level of load on one of a plurality of servers 106(1402). In one embodiment, a power management agent 1220 monitors aplurality of performance metrics on one of a plurality of servers 106.In another embodiment, the power management agent 1220 determines alevel of load for the one of the plurality of servers 106, based on themonitored plurality of performance metrics. In still another embodiment,the power management agent 1220 determines a level of load for at leastone user session on the one of the plurality of servers 106. In stilleven another embodiment, the power management agent 1220 provides themonitored level of load to at least one of the power management console1222 and the power management controller 1206. In yet anotherembodiment, the power management agent 1220 provides load information toat least one of the power management console 1222 and the powermanagement controller 1206. In still even another embodiment, the powermanagement agent 1220 is in communication with a monitoring agent244,297 1604, a client agent 120, or a server agent 824, providing themonitored level of load or load information.

The power management console 1222 generates a power management schedule1212 for a server 106 in the plurality of servers 106, responsive to themonitored level of load (1404). In one embodiment, the power managementconsole 1222 receives the monitored level of load from the powermanagement agent 1220. In another embodiment, the power managementconsole 1222 receives load information from the power management agent1220. In still another embodiment, the power management console 1222determines the level of load based on the load information. In stilleven another embodiment, the power management console 1222 dynamicallygenerates a power management schedule 1212 for a server 106 in theplurality of servers 106, responsive to the monitored level of load. Instill yet another embodiment, the power management console 1222 selectsa power management schedule 1212 from at least one power managementschedule 1212 stored in the storage device 1290.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 provides aninterface 1224 to a user. In another embodiment, the power managementconsole 1222 displays, via the interface 1224, the monitored level ofload or the received load information to the user. In still anotherembodiment, the user defines a power management schedule 1212 for aserver 106 in the plurality of servers 106. In yet another embodiment,the user selects a power management schedule 1212 from at least onepower management schedule 1212 stored in the storage device 1290. Instill even another embodiment, the power management console 1222retrieves a power management schedule 1212 from the storage device 1290,responsive to the user selecting a power management schedule 1212 fromat least one power management schedule 1212 stored in the storage device1290.

In one embodiment, a user can manually override or update the powermanagement schedule 1212, via the interface 1224. For example, the usercan use the interface to direct a server 106 to power down immediately,power down gracefully or power up. In another embodiment, a user canconfigure the power management controller 1206 to control the level ofload or power on a server 106 via the interface 1224. For example, theuser can define a sequence for servers 106 within a server group to bepowered down or powered up in accordance with the power efficiency ofeach of the servers 106. In still another embodiment, a server 106 thatuses more energy relative to their performance may be shut down beforeother servers in the server group. In some embodiments, the powermanagement schedule 1212 is generated as described above in connectionwith FIGS. 12 and 13.

The power management controller 1206 dynamically controls a level ofpower for the server 106, responsive to the power management schedule1212 (1406). In one embodiment, the power management controller 1206dynamically controls a level of power for the server 106, responsive toa change in the level of load. In another embodiment, the powermanagement controller 1206 dynamically modifies the power managementschedule for a server 106 in the plurality of servers, responsive to themonitored level of load. In still another embodiment, the agent in thepower management controller 1206 generates a command to a powermanagement agent 1220 to dynamically control a level of power for theserver 106. In yet another embodiment, the transmitter in the powermanagement controller 1206 transmits the command to a power managementagent 1220 to dynamically control a level of power for the server 106.

In one embodiment, the power management console 1222 includes a defaultserver selection algorithm to determine whether to commission ordecommission a server 106 while maximizing power savings. In anotherembodiment, the default server selection algorithm is based on acapacity-per-watt metric for each of the plurality of servers 106. Instill another embodiment, a nominal ranking value is assigned to eachserver 106, so that, for example, a server 106 with a higher rankingvalue may be powered on before servers 106 of lower ranking. Conversely,a lower ranked server 106 a can be powered off before higher rankedservers 106 b. For example, to avoid thermal hotspots in a data centerblade enclosure that includes a plurality of blade servers 106, each ofthe blade servers 106 may be assigned a round-robin ranking according tophysical position; this can reduce the likelihood that any one bladeserver 106 is excessively powered on relative to other blade servers 106in the enclosure. In another embodiment, ranking can be applied to aplurality of blade enclosures to further reduce thermal hotspots betweenblade enclosures.

In one embodiment, an administrator can apply ranking to control andbalance power distribution across a plurality of power distributionunits (PDUs). In another embodiment, a plurality of servers 106 may beassigned a default ranking. In still another embodiment, the serverselection algorithm randomly selects one of a plurality of servers 106having the same ranking value to power up or down. In yet anotherembodiment, the default server selection algorithm can be modified, suchas by combining capacity-per-watt metric with ranking, or any othercombination of metrics, to drive the server selection.

In one embodiment, user session requests may be queued against one ormore servers 106, for example to prevent spreading user sessions acrossa plurality of servers 106 during periods of high request rates. Inanother embodiment, user profiling may be applied to predict how long auser may maintain a user session; this data can, for example, be used todirect potentially long-lived sessions to base load servers 106. Instill another embodiment, to allow for greater opportunity toconsolidate or migrate user sessions, graceful shutdown of servers 106may be preferred to minimize any loss of data.

In one embodiment, user session consolidation operates in conjunctionwith a load balancing system. In another embodiment, user sessionconsolidation is performed by manipulating the load balancing system.For example, the power management console 1222 may send a command tomodify the load value (but not the actual level of load) for one or moreservers to influence load balancing decisions by the load balancingsystem. In still another embodiment, a failsafe approach involvesdisengaging user session consolidation if a failure is detected, so thatnormal load-balancing can resume. For example, if a power managementagent 1220 for a server 106 detects that the power management controller1206 is no longer available (for example, when the connection is lost),the power management agent 1220 assumes the server 106 is no longermanaged for power reduction, and triggers an automatic failsafeprocedure to revert the load value on the server 106.

In one embodiment, fault tolerance features may include the ability tomanually disengage the load consolidation functionality to at least oneserver 106 and/or at least one user sessions. If there is a fault withthe control of one particular user session, this user session can bedisengaged independently of the others. For example, if a server 106reports an erroneous load or capacity value that is affecting thedynamics of the user session consolidation, an administrator canmanually disengage the server 106 or the associated user sessions fromthe user session consolidation process.

Referring now to FIG. 15A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem for reducing energy consumption in a server farm 38. In briefoverview, the system includes a power management agent 1220 on each ofthe plurality of servers 106, a power management console 1222, a powermanagement controller 1206, and a persistent storage 1290 storing apower management schedule 1212.

Referring now to FIG. 15A, and in greater detail, the system may includevirtual machines that execute on the plurality of physical servers 106.In one embodiment, a single physical server 106 may provide access to atleast one virtual machine. A server 106 can terminate a virtual machineexecuting on the server 106 and save the state of the virtual machine toa disk. In another embodiment, the remote presentation system maymigrate, in real-time, a running virtual machine from a first physicalserver 106 a to a second physical server 106. Such capabilities can beleveraged to consolidate virtual machines or virtual servers onto asmaller number of physical servers 106 to reduce energy consumption inthe server farm 38.

In one embodiment, the server 106 can serve at least one of a desktopsession and an individual application session, to a remote client 102.In another embodiment, the server 106 may be powered down when theserver 106 is not providing any user sessions to a client 102.

In one embodiment, a plurality of server groups may be defined andassociated with a plurality of session types. For example, a pluralityof server groups may be defined to consolidate user sessions ofdifferent session length or session load. In another embodiment, longlived or persistent applications may be consolidated onto a first subsetof the plurality of servers 106 that are the last to be powered down. Instill another embodiment, resources which users access for shorterperiods of time may be consolidated onto a second subset of theplurality of servers 106. In yet another embodiment, a session type mayalso be referred to as an application or session silo.

In one embodiment, a plurality of server groups may be defined in thepower management console 1222 to consolidate user sessions of differentlevels of load. In another embodiment, a level of load may be determinedby a power management agent 1220 based on at least one performancemetric associated with a user session. For example, a user sessionrelated to a point-of-sale (POS) software application, such as atransaction application used by a sales representative, may becharacterized as having a high level of load throughout a typicalbusiness day. In still another embodiment, a plurality of server groupsmay be defined to consolidate user sessions associated with differentusage patterns. For example, a user session related to an email clientmay be characterized by periodic load or activity throughout a day. Inyet another embodiment, a user session related to a fax softwareapplication or a web browser may be characterized by ad-hoc usagelevels.

In one embodiment, the power management agent 1220 of each server 106communicates session characteristics and load information to the powermanagement console 1222 of the system. In another embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 determines the session type for each usersession, based on the received session characteristics and loadinformation. In still another embodiment, the power management console1222 provides a user interface 1224 through which a user can define theplurality of server groups, as well as a power management schedule 1212for each of the plurality of server groups.

In one embodiment, servers 106 substantially optimized to provide usersessions of a session type are allocated to a server group providinguser sessions of the session type. In another embodiment, the powermanagement controller 1206 operates, in conjunction with a loadbalancing system, to consolidate user sessions of the session type ontoa plurality of servers 106 in the server group. For example,point-of-sale software applications may be consolidated onto a servergroup 1501 optimized for high levels of load. In still anotherembodiment, since the point-of-sale software applications are typicallyactive and operational during business hours, some of the plurality ofservers 106 may power down after business hours to reduce energyconsumption.

In one embodiment, applications such as web browsers and fax software,may for example, can be consolidated into a server group 1502 comprisingservers with lower processing power and capacity. In another embodiment,the ad hoc usage pattern associated with such applications can be asignificant characteristic for determining consolidation strategies forreducing energy consumption. For example, the servers providing suchuser sessions may be selected for being very power efficient while insleep mode, and can recover quickly from sleep mode to operational modein response to a session request.

Referring now to FIG. 15B, a chart depicts an embodiment of sessionloading across a plurality of servers 106 using a typical load balancingapproach. In one embodiment, a typical load balancing approachdistributing user sessions across all servers may reduce the opportunityfor power saving. In another embodiment, different user sessions ofdifferent session types may be distributed substantially evenly across aplurality of servers 106. In still another embodiment, none of theservers are powered-down, and very few servers may qualify to be placedin a low-power sleep mode. In yet another embodiment, one or more of theservers 106 may not be substantially optimized to minimize powerconsumption while providing the user sessions. In still even anotherembodiment, power consumption overhead may occur even on servers 106with low levels of load and may not be reduced further or avoided unlessthe servers 106 are placed in sleep mode or powered down.

Referring now to FIG. 15C, a chart depicts an embodiment of sessionloading across a plurality of servers 106 resulting from a power-savingsession consolidation process. In brief overview, a plurality of servers106 are divided into two server groups 1501, 1502, each of the servergroups dedicated to providing user sessions of a specific session type.

In one embodiment, point-of-sale software application sessions (e.g.,persistent application sessions associated with high levels of load) areconsolidated into the first three servers forming a first server group1501. In another embodiment, user sessions related to fax software,email clients and web browsers (i.e., application sessions associatedwith low levels of load and/or ad-hoc usage patterns) are consolidatedonto eight servers forming a second server group 1502. In still anotherembodiment, new user sessions are provided from servers 106 from left toright, resulting in a higher probability of servers 106 on the rightside to be idle. In yet another embodiment, new user sessions areprovided by the leftmost server 106 of each server group until theserver 106 reaches capacity or falls below a service level. In stilleven another embodiment, idle servers, especially the rightmost serversin each server group, may be candidates for power savings by placing inlow-power mode or powering down. In still yet another embodiment, thetemporal nature of user sessions, such as the length and load profile ofthe user sessions, can thus facilitate the consolidation process of newuser sessions for power reduction.

In one embodiment, some of the active servers 106 a may be powered downto conserve energy when the user sessions they provide can be migratedto other servers 106 b without exceeding service limits. In anotherembodiment, a server 106 a may re-direct session requests from one ormore clients to other servers 106 b in preparation to go intopower-saving mode. In still another embodiment, the server 106 a doesnot provide new user sessions and waits for existing sessions on theserver 106 a to end before powering down. In yet another embodiment, thesystem may migrate virtual machine sessions, in real-time, from a firstserver 106 a to a second server 106 b, or replace a user's inactivedesktop session with another desktop session on a second server 106 b.

In one embodiment, a power-saving consolidation system can operate inconjunction with a load balancing system, as a combined system, to applyservice limits on the servers 106 while achieving power savings. Inanother embodiment, evaluation of load against these service limits mayaffect how new user sessions are load balanced across each server groupand whether to commission new servers out of power-saving modes. Forexample, load evaluators of a traditional load balancing system may beadapted to operate with the present system to consolidate user sessionsand schedule servers 106 for off-peak periods. In still anotherembodiment, such a combined system can allow user sessions to be spreadacross a plurality of servers 106 in order to achieve optimalperformance for each session and to achieve the consolidation goal.

In one embodiment, the combined system may set both upper and lowerthresholds for service limits to prevent the combined system fromoscillating around a single threshold. As an illustration, and in oneembodiment, a consolidation scheme may have a single service limitthreshold set for a first server 106 a such that a second server 106 bwill be powered up to provide new user sessions if the level of load onthe first server 102 a exceeds the threshold. If the level of load onthe first server 106 a fluctuates around the threshold and the level ofload of new sessions are low, the second server 106 b may powered up anddown in tandem with the fluctuations, leading to operational and energyinefficiency. In contrast, if upper and lower thresholds for servicelimits are set to span a substantial portion of the fluctuations in thelevel of load, the second server 106 b can remain powered-down orpowered-up for longer periods of time. In some embodiments, this patternof powering up and down is referred to as hysteresis.

In one embodiment, as users log off, for example after business hours,an increasing number of servers 106 can be powered down to conserveenergy. In another embodiment, as more users requests new user sessions,for example during peak periods, additional servers 106 b can be poweredup as the level of load on active servers 106 a reaches the upperthresholds of their service limits. In still another embodiment, a powermanagement agent 1220 on each server 106 can transmit load informationto a power management console 1222 and a power management controller1206 so that any dynamic allocation of resources, such as servers 106 toprovide new user sessions, can be made. In yet another embodiment, thepower management agent 1220 on each server 106 can transmit updated loadinformation to the power management console 1222 and the powermanagement controller 1206 for updating the power management schedule1212 and/or dynamically adjusting the number of active servers to handlethe number of user sessions. In still even another embodiment, the powermanagement console 1222 and the power management controller 1206 canmonitor the load pattern over time and preemptively start servers 106before they are required in order to reduce the delay associated withprovisioning a new server 106.

In one embodiment, the systems and methods described herein may be usedfor adaptively load balancing virtual machines executing on a pluralityof servers 106 to reduce energy consumption. Referring again to FIG. 12,in an embodiment, the method includes identifying a virtual machinesession type for each of a plurality of virtual machines. The methodincludes defining a server group providing access to a subset of theplurality of virtual machines having a common virtual machine sessiontype. The method includes defining a power management schedule 1212 forthe server group. The method includes consolidating, onto at least oneserver 106 in the server group, the subset of the plurality of virtualmachines. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving, from a powermanagement agent 1220, information identifying a virtual machine sessiontype for at least one of the plurality of virtual machines. In anotherembodiment, the method includes defining a server group including atleast one server substantially optimized to provide virtual machinesessions of the common virtual machine session type. In anotherembodiment, the method includes monitoring, by a power management agent1220, a change in a level of load.

In one embodiment, the method includes dynamically modifying the powermanagement schedule 1212 for the server group, responsive to a change ina level of load. In another embodiment, the method includes dynamicallyallocating an available resource within the server group. In stillanother embodiment, the method includes relocating at least one of thesubset of the plurality of virtual machines from a first server 106 a inthe server group to a second server 106 b in the server group. In stilleven another embodiment, the method includes powering down the firstserver 106 a in the server group. In yet another embodiment, the methodincludes powering up a virtual machine. In still yet another embodiment,the method includes powering down a virtual machine.

In some embodiments, the systems and methods described herein may beprovided by a power control system (PCS). In one embodiment, a powercontrol system controls a plurality of servers 106 providing a usersession of a particular session type. In another embodiment, theplurality of servers 106 may include an application server, a desktopserver, a virtual server 1275, or a web server. In still anotherembodiment, the power control system may manage at least one CITRIXPRESENTATION server, CITRIX XENAPP server, or CITRIX XEN DESKTOP server.

In one embodiment, a power control system includes all of the componentsdescribed above in connection with FIG. 12. In another embodiment, apower control system manages a plurality of servers 106 at a pluralityof sites. In still even another embodiment, the power control systemcontrols a plurality of servers 106 such that a minimum number ofservers 106 are powered up to provide the user sessions whilemaintaining required service levels. In yet another embodiment, a powercontrol system improves server utilization and reduces energyconsumption compared to maintaining the plurality of servers 106 poweredup all the time or for extended periods of time.

In one embodiment, a power control system is a closed-loop controlsystem that monitors the load and capacity of a plurality of servers106. For example, in another embodiment, the monitored load and servercapacity are used as feedback in the power control system to driveavailable capacity to meet desired service level requirements bycontrolling the number of servers 106 for handling a plurality of usersessions. In still another embodiment, a power control system controlsthe plurality of servers 106 based on a plurality of setpointparameters. In yet another embodiment, the plurality of setpointparameters specifies a desired level of capacity in relation to a levelof load on the plurality of servers 106. In still even anotherembodiment, the plurality of setpoint parameters represents the servicelevel thresholds derived from a service level agreement (SLA), forexample.

In one embodiment, the setpoint parameters are maintained by any numberof external entities including administrators, workflows, automationscripts, schedules, or higher-order control systems such as aservice-based control automation (SBCA) system, described below inconnection with FIGS. 17A and 17B.

In one embodiment, the service-based control automation system providesresource management by balancing available hardware resources betweendifferent workload types. In another embodiment, the service-basedcontrol automation system may provide automated provisioning, forexample via CITRIX PROVISIONING SERVER. In still another embodiment, theservice-based control automation system can receive input from sourcessuch as temperature sensors, power distribution unit sensors and othermanagement systems. In yet another embodiment, the service-based controlautomation system is in communication with a monitoring system such asthe CITRIX EDGESIGHT system, to report on power and cost savings.

In one embodiment, the power control system provides failover fromservers 106 in the primary data center to a data recovery site. Inanother embodiment, during normal operation all servers 106 in the datarecovery site are left on standby power. In still another embodiment,partial failover can occur where some servers are unavailable or wherethere is insufficient capacity to meet the number of user sessionrequests. In yet another embodiment, a complete failover of the datacenter may require a redundant power control system in the data recoverysite to take control of the data recovery servers. In still even anotherembodiment, a partial failover may require a primary power controlsystem to continue to manage local servers while spilling over excesscapacity to servers in the remote data recovery site. In yet anotherembodiment, the primary power control system communicates, to theredundant power control system, the additional capacity required to meeta shortfall. In further embodiments, the redundant power control systemprovides data recovery servers to meet the shortfall, in response to thecommunication with the primary power control system.

In one embodiment, when service and capacity is restored at the primarydata center, user sessions are migrated back to the primary data center.In another embodiment, a rack of redundant servers in the data centermay serve as a data recovery site or a spill-over server group. In stillanother embodiment, a plurality of spill-over server groups may existwithin a primary data center or a primary server group. In yet anotherembodiment, the plurality of spill-over server groups may be ranked forpreference in handling capacity spillover.

In one embodiment, the power control system can place a server 106 intolow-power “standby” mode when all user sessions provided by the server106 become disconnected or are identified to be idle. In anotherembodiment, when a user session becomes active or attempts to reconnect,the server 106 providing the user session will automatically resume anappropriate, higher power level. In still another embodiment, the powercontrol system includes an agent that monitors for user session activityor client reconnection activity.

Referring now to FIG. 16A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem for power metering and reporting. In brief overview, the systemincludes a power monitoring server 1602, a monitoring agent 1604, anoperating system 1606 (OS), an out-of-band nominal power meter 1608, aservice processor aggregator 1612, a baseboard management controller1614, a plurality of servers 1206, and third-party power meteringdevices 1618.

Referring now to FIG. 16A, and in more detail, the power monitoringserver 1602 provides monitoring and reporting of power consumption forthe system. In one embodiment, the power monitoring server 1602 may be aCITRIX EDGESIGHT server. In another embodiment, the power monitoringserver 1602 is in communication with a console (not shown). In stillanother embodiment, power consumption may be reported via the console.In yet another embodiment, a level of power associated with a usersession may be reported via the console.

Referring now to FIG. 16B, and in one embodiment, the plurality ofservers 106 can be homogenous and supported by in-service powermetering. In another embodiment, in-service power metering is providedby at least one monitoring agent 1604, such as a CITRIX EDGESIGHT agent,in communication with the operating systems 1606 of the plurality ofservers 106. In still another embodiment, a monitoring agent 1604collects or determines power metrics of a monitored server 106 and sendsthe power metrics to the power monitoring server 1602. In yet anotherembodiment, the monitoring agent 1604 includes functionality provided bya monitoring agent 244, 297, a server agent 1824, or a client agent 120residing in a server 106, a client 102, or other machine.

In one embodiment, the plurality of servers 106 can be heterogeneous,including a range of vendor-specific service processors, hardwareplatforms and management interfaces. In another embodiment, anout-of-band power meter can support the heterogeneous plurality ofservers 106, alone or in combination with in-service metering. In stillanother embodiment, out-of-band metering is provided by at least one ofan out-of-band nominal power meter 1608 and a service processoraggregator 1612. In yet another embodiment, an out-of-band power metermay be used to monitor the power consumption of a server 106 while instandby mode. In still another embodiment, out-of-band or in-servermeter may support virtual servers 1275 and virtual machine powermetering.

In one embodiment, out-of-band power metering may be required to monitorthe power consumption for “bare metal” machines, for example, machinesthat do not have substantial functionality to communicate in-servicewith the monitoring agent 1604. In another embodiment, power data can becollected from a “bare metal” machine if a baseboard managementcontroller on the machine is powered up.

In one embodiment, where an out-of-band power meter is not available, anominal power meter 1608 can be provided. In another embodiment, nominalpower metering involves specifying nominal power consumption values(e.g., in Watts) for each type of server 106, for example, a bestestimate of the average power consumption of each type of server 106when powered up. In yet another embodiment, the nominal powerconsumption values are specified by an administrator or provided inserver specifications. In yet another embodiment, nominal power meteringcan be useful in providing power estimates and trend analysis.

Referring now to FIG. 17A, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem for controlling server consolidation to reduce power consumptionincluding control layers in the system. In one embodiment, the systemincludes control layers for high order controllers, power controlsystems, machine power control and machine-level control. In anotherembodiment, higher order controllers, such as a service-based controlautomation (SBCA) system 1702, dynamically allocates and reallocatesresources from a plurality of servers 106 to provide user sessions basedon service level policies. FIG. 17B shows one embodiment of inputs to aservice-based control automation system 1702 and the control flow fromthe service-based control automation system 1702 to the machine powercontrol layer.

In one embodiment, at the power control system layer, each power controlsystem manages a plurality of servers 106 at one site, the plurality ofservers 106 may include application servers, desktop servers, webservers, virtual servers, or other types of servers. In anotherembodiment, a multi-site server farm 38 may have a plurality of powercontrol systems, for example, one power control system for each site. Instill another embodiment, interfaces for resource selection and setpointparameter changes are provided by the power control system to the higherorder controllers, such as a service-based control automation system1702. In yet another embodiment, an interface is provided by a powercontrol system to a power management console 1222 to administer thepower control system. In still even another embodiment, reportingfunctionalities are performed, for example, via a power managementconsole 1222, on a power control system database stored in a storagedevice 1290. In some embodiments, the service-based control automationsystem 1702 is in communication with at least one machine power control.

In one embodiment, a machine power control (MPC) layer includes controlsfor powering off/on a server 106 and changing the power level of aserver 106, for example, placing a server 106 into standby mode. Inanother embodiment, as described above in connection with FIG. 12, acommand is directed to a power management agent 1220 to control thepower level of a server 106. For example, in one embodiment, the powermanagement agent 1220 communicates with the OS to control the powerlevel of a server 106. In another embodiment, remote agent-less controlmay be implemented with a platform like MICROSOFT WINDOWS RemoteManagement (WinRM). In still another embodiment, Wake-on-LAN (WOL)controls 1712 may be used to activate a server 106 from low-powerstandby mode. In yet another embodiment, an Intelligent PlatformManagement Interface (IPMI) may be implemented in a server's serviceprocessors or baseboard management system to activate a server 106 fromlow-power standby mode.

In one embodiment, a workflow solution, such as CITRIX WORKFLOW STUDIO,may be used as an interface for a machine power control to manageconsolidation and/or load-balancing of a plurality of servers 106. Forexample, Wake-on-LAN activity can be controlled within an interfaceprovided by the workflow solution. The workflow solution can alsocoordinate machine power control activities across a plurality ofheterogeneous servers 106 by providing custom interfaces with each typeof server 106. In another embodiment, a service processor aggregator1716, such as an AVOCENT MERGEPOINT service processor aggregator, mayprovide a portion of the workflow solution. In still another embodiment,a service processor aggregator 1716 provides an interface forcommunicating with service control processors from a plurality ofvendors. In yet another embodiment, a workflow solution manages at leastone of a service-based control automation system, a machine powercontrol and a power control system.

Referring now to FIG. 18, a block diagram depicts one embodiment of asystem for reducing energy consumption in a plurality of servers 106. Inbrief overview, the system includes a concentrator 1802, a managementconsole 1804, a machine power control 1826, a reporting module 1832, adatabase 1830, an active directory 1838 and a server agent 1824. In oneembodiment, the concentrator 1802 includes a simulation controller 1808,a schedule manager 1810, a controller engine 1806, a wake-on-LAN (WOL)client 1820, a load director 1828, a configuration agent 1834 and aserver agent proxy 1822. In another embodiment, the controller engine1806 includes a schedule engine 1812, a workload controller 1814 and astate manager 1816.

Referring now to FIG. 18, and in greater detail, the concentrator 1802communicates with at least one server agent 1824 associated with aplurality of servers 106, the plurality of servers 106 being powermanaged to reduce power consumption. In one embodiment, the concentrator1802 communicates with the management console 1804 and handles workflow,automation script, and other management and monitoring requests. Inanother embodiment, the concentrator 1802 may be a power managementcontroller 1206 as described in connection with FIGS. 12-15.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a failover clusteringmodel supporting at least two nodes, i.e., a cluster of two nodes. Inanother embodiment, one node in the cluster is a master concentrator andall other active nodes will be slave concentrators. In still anotherembodiment, the synchronization of states between master and slaveconcentrators in a cluster occurs via a structured query language (SQL)server database. In yet another embodiment, failover support is directedthrough the SQL server database; each active slave concentrator cancontinually poll the state of the master concentrator, for example, byobserving whether the master concentrator has been actively updating thedatabase. In still even another embodiment, if no updates have been madefor a period of time, one of the active slave concentrators may replacethe master concentrator and update the database. In still yet anotherembodiment, database record locking and concurrency management may beused to provide a synchronization mechanism to prevent more than oneslave from replacing the master concentrator simultaneously.

In one embodiment, the master concentrator is in communication with aplurality of server agents 1824. In another embodiment, when a serveragent 1824 attempts to connect (or reconnect after failover), the serveragent 1824 accesses an active directory 1838 to identify a list ofactive concentrators. In still another embodiment, the listening portsof slave concentrators may be closed so as not to connect to the serveragents 1824. In yet another embodiment, the server agent 1824sequentially attempts to connect with the list of concentrators until aconnection is established with the master concentrator.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a range ofadministrative and automation interfaces for configuring the operationof the system, such as interfaces for the management console, scripts(e.g., MICROSOFT POWERSHELL scripts), workflow activities (e.g., CITRIXWORKFLOW STUDIO activities), WinRM, MICROSOFT Visual Studio, MICROSOFTSystem Center Operations Manager, and other systems management clients.In another embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a simulationcontroller interface with the simulation controller 1808 for initiating,monitoring and managing simulation control processes in communicationwith a simulator controller 1808. In still another embodiment, theconcentrator 1802 provides a controller interface for operating acontroller engine 1806, including providing manual override and controlsystem disengagement directives. In yet another embodiment, theconcentrator 1802 provides a scheduler interface to the workloadcontroller 1814 to manage workload controller schedules.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a state managementinterface to manage and observe the running state of the system,including manipulating workloads and server state. In anotherembodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a configuration interface formaking a change in system-wide configuration settings. In still anotherembodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a resources interface tocontrol server resources available to the user sessions of a sessiontype.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a Wake-on-LAN (WOL)client interface to power on or “wake-up” servers 106 in an environmentwhere power-managed servers 106 support Wake-on-LAN. In anotherembodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a machine power control (MPC)interface to communicate with an external machine power control 1826.For example, this interface may be in the form of an externalapplication, workflow, or script that is capable of waking or poweringon a machine, whether a physical bare metal machine or a virtualmachine. In still another embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides amachine selector interface for invoking custom-written machine selectorsexternal to the concentrator 1802. In yet another embodiment, theconcentrator 1802 provides a load balancing system interface to track,via the state manager 1816, the maintenance state of servers 106. Instill even another embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides a SQLserver database interface to access the SQL server database 1830. Instill yet another embodiment, the concentrator 1802 provides an activedirectory 1838 to publish a session control protocol (SCP) associatedwith the concentrator 1802.

In one embodiment, the system includes a database 1830, for example, aSQL server database, accessed by the concentrator 1802 and a reportingmodule 1832. In another embodiment, the database 1830 provides thecommon store of data for a plurality of servers 106 in a server group orserver farm 38. In still another embodiment, data stored in the database1830 includes concentrator node registrations, workload definitions,managed servers 106 and workload mappings, managed server power eventlog files, server profiles and capacity schedule definitions, andutilization and load metrics. In yet another embodiment, the database1830 provides a database interface to provide access to database datavia SQL. In still even another embodiment, the database 1830 may bestored in a storage device 1290.

In one embodiment, the system includes a reporting module 1832 providinga set of pre-defined reports. In another embodiment, the reportingmodule 1832 can generate reports of monitored utilization and loadmetric data in tabular or chart format. In still another embodiment,types of reports available include system-wide utilization reports,system-wide load vs. capacity reports, workload specific utilizationreports, workload specific load vs. capacity reports, server specificutilization reports, and server specific load vs. capacity reports. Instill even another embodiment, reports may be generated coveringdifferent periods and at different granularities (e.g. hourly, daily,weekly) to present server trends and the effect of control systemchanges. In yet another embodiment, power-related reports can begenerated, for example, by populating a report with data collected by aCITRIX EDGESIGHT monitoring system.

In one embodiment, the reporting module 1832 accesses the database 1830for information to generate reports. In another embodiment, thereporting module 1832 stores reports into the database 1830. In stillanother embodiment, the reporting module 1832 provides a reportinginterface with a web services front end for executing, displaying orprinting reports.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 includes a controller engine1806 providing closed-loop power control of managed servers 106 within aserver group for each session type. In another embodiment, theconcentrator 1802 instantiates one controller engine 1806 to manage aset of user sessions, with additional instances for each simulation runinitiated by the simulation controller 1808. In still anotherembodiment, the controller engine 1806 tracks the state of workloads andserver groups to maintain sufficient capacity to service demand. In yetanother embodiment, the controller engine 1806 is controlled with a setof setpoint parameters that is maintained and updated by a scheduleengine 1812 or by an external agent. In still even another embodiment,each controller engine 1806 instance hosts a schedule engine 1812 thatexecutes based on schedule definitions managed by a scheduler manager1810. In some embodiments, a controller engine 1806 providesfunctionality of a power management controller 1206 as described abovein connection with FIGS. 12-15.

In one embodiment, the controller engine 1806 includes a workloadcontroller interface for communicating with a workload controller 1814.For example, in some embodiments, the controller engine 1806 overridesthe schedule engine 1812 with specific setpoint parameters for eachworkload, and for disengaging/reengaging the control system. In anotherembodiment, the controller engine 1806 includes a state managementinterface for monitoring a running state of system, for example, bycommunicating with the state manager 1816 to monitor the user sessionsand server states on a server 106. In still another embodiment, thecontroller engine 1806 includes a Wake-on-LAN (WOL) client interface foreach controller engine 1806 instance to power on or “wake-up” servers106 in environments that support Wake-on-LAN, via communication with amachine power control 1826. In yet another embodiment, the controllerengine 1806 includes a machine power control (MPC) interface for eachcontroller engine 1806 instance to power on or “wake-up” servers 106,for example, to supplement WOL.

In one embodiment, the controller engine 1806 includes a load balancingsystem interface for each controller engine 1806 instance, which is usedby the state manager 1816 for tracking the “maintenance” state ofservers 106—a server 106 is in “maintenance” when the server 106 isdisabled from accepting new user sessions or is not participating inload balancing. In another embodiment, the controller engine 1806includes a server agent interface allowing a controller engine 1806instance to communicate with a server agent 1824, for example, to send acommand for the server agent 1824 to reduce the amount of capacityprovided by a server 106. In still another embodiment, the controllerengine 1806 may instruct the server agent 1824, via the server agentinterface, to direct session requests away from a server 106 inpreparation to decommission the server 106. In still another embodiment,the controller engine 1806 includes a data access layer for accessingthe database 1830.

In one embodiment, the controller engine 1806 includes a workloadcontroller 1814. In another embodiment, the workload controller 1814controls a plurality of servers 106 to drive server capacity toparticular setpoint levels. In another embodiment, the workloadcontroller 1814 selects servers 106 to power up or down for changingsession type capacity levels. In still another embodiment, the workloadcontroller 1814 may use a selection algorithm based on an amount ofcapacity change required for a server group, and/or preference andranking values set against each server 106 in the server group. In stilleven another embodiment, the selection algorithm can be overridden witha custom implementation invoked via an external application, workflow orscript.

In one embodiment, the workload controller 1814 includes a schedulecontrol interface, used by the schedule engine 1812 to request setpointparameter changes when a scheduled event occurs, for example, to updatea power management schedule 1212. In another embodiment, the workloadcontroller 1814 includes an external control interface for overridingthe schedule engine 1812 with specific setpoint parameters and fordisengaging/reengaging the control system, for example, for each sessiontype. In still another embodiment, a state manager interface is providedfor obtaining the persistent and dynamic state of user sessions andservers 106, including load and capacity, for selecting servers 106 fromthe server group. In yet another embodiment, a Wake-on-LAN clientinterface is provided for each workload controller instance to power onor “wake-up” servers 106 in communication with Wake-on-LAN clients inenvironments where WOL is supported.

In one embodiment, the workload controller 1814 communicates with theMachine Power Control 1826 and provides a machine power control (MPC)Interface for workload controller instances to power on or “wake-up”machines in communication with a machine power control 1826, forexample, to supplement WOL. In another embodiment, the workloadcontroller 1814 provides a machine selector interface for invokingcustom-written server selectors external to the concentrator 1802.

In one embodiment, the controller engine 1806 includes a schedule engine1812 for initiating setpoint parameter changes to the workloadcontroller 1814 when a scheduled time occurs. In another embodiment, theschedule engine 1812 interfaces with the schedule manager 1810 to obtainschedule definitions. In still another embodiment, a schedule engine1812 can be instantiated and started by each controller engine 1806instance, and remains active in processing schedule events untildeactivated.

In one embodiment, the schedule engine 1812 provides a schedule controlinterface and maintained by the workload controller 1814 for requestingsetpoint parameter changes when a scheduled event occurs. In anotherembodiment, a schedule manager interface is provided for obtainingschedule definitions and to determine the next scheduled event on whichto act.

In one embodiment, the controller engine 1806 includes a state manager1816 that monitors the persistent and runtime state of the usersessions, servers 106 and other objects in the system. In anotherembodiment, the state manager 1816 instance executes as part of acontroller engine 1806 instance. In another embodiment, in a simulatedcontroller engine, a state manager 1816 instance is duplicated from anactive (“live”) controller engine's state manager 1816. In still anotherembodiment, the state manager 1816 instance may be disassociated fromthe database 1830 and other discovery mechanisms. In still even anotherembodiment, when a simulation run is complete, the simulation controller1808 deactivates the associated controller engine and state managerinstances. In yet another embodiment, the metadata related to asimulation run and the metric data collected during the simulation runcan be analyzed using the database's reporting facility.

In one embodiment, a persistent state of a server group is synchronizedwith the database 1830 and the runtime state is derived from externalsources, such as emulated inputs. In another embodiment, the persistentstate includes user session and session type definitions, serveridentities with associated control mode setting, preference group,ranking, associated server profile and associated workload. In stillanother embodiment, the persistent state includes recent power actionrequests and results for each server 106, and server profiles andassociated capacity settings. In still even another embodiment, theruntime state includes current server farm load and capacity metrics andcurrent user session load and capacity metrics. In yet anotherembodiment, the runtime state includes current server load and capacitymetrics, server power on/off state, and server maintenance mode state.

In one embodiment, while a simulation is actively running, thepersistent state for the simulation may be fixed. In another embodiment,the state manager 1816 is not affected by changes to the database 1830and the runtime state is driven by emulated inputs. In still anotherembodiment, all concentrator nodes in a cluster can maintain, via thecorresponding state managers 1816, the persistent state. In still evenanother embodiment, the master concentrator manages the runtime statevia the state manager 1816 in the master concentrator. In yet anotherembodiment, if there is a failover and a change in master concentrator,the new master concentrator can attempt to resynchronize the runtimestate via the state manager 1816 in the master concentrator. In stillyet another embodiment, a period of time may be required for a pluralityof server agents 1824 to reconnect to the new master concentrator andfor the persistent and/or runtime state to be re-established.

In one embodiment, the state manager 1816 provides a state managementinterface for accessing persistent and runtime state, and settingpersistent state values. In another embodiment, the state manager 1816provides a resource management interface to enable a server agent 1824to register, deregister and update various state values associated witha server 106. In still another embodiment, the state manager 1816provides a load balancing system interface to track the “maintenance”state of servers 106. In yet another embodiment, the state manager 1816provides a data access layer for synchronizing persistent state with thedatabase.

In one embodiment, a simulation controller 1808 in the concentrator 1802instantiates and manages simulation runs upon request. In anotherembodiment, an instance of the controller engine 1806 is created foreach simulation. In still another embodiment, the results of asimulation are stored in the database 1830 and controller engine 1806instance is deactivated after the simulation. In still even anotherembodiment, the simulation controller 1808 may allow multiplesimulations to run concurrently. In yet another embodiment, a simulationis used to analyze data monitored by a server agent 1824. In anotherembodiment, a simulation may provide data to make predictions or providerecommendations to update power management schedules 1212. For example,a simulation may provide results that predict a higher level of load at9 a.m. compared with 5 a.m., and recommends changing the powermanagement schedule 1212 to power up more servers 106 at 18.30 a.m. tohandle the higher level of load.

In one embodiment, each instance of a controller engine 1806corresponding to a simulation creates an instance of the schedule engine1812, the state manager 1816, and the workload controller 1814. Inanother embodiment, a controller engine 1806 instance, whether live orsimulated, shares a common group of schedule definitions via theschedule manager 1810.

In one embodiment, the simulation controller 1808 provides a simulationinterface for initiating, monitoring and managing simulation runs. Inanother embodiment, the simulation controller 1808 provides a controllerengine interface for creating and managing simulation controller engine1806 instances. In still another embodiment, the simulation controller1808 provides a data access layer for storing simulation metadata to thedatabase 1830.

In one embodiment, a schedule manager 1810 in the concentrator 1802provides workload schedule definitions for use by a schedule engine 1812instance within each controller engine 1806 instance, for both live andsimulated controller engines 1806. In another embodiment, schedules arestored in the database 1830, mapped against user sessions, and defineschedule items for setpoint parameters change events. In still anotherembodiment, a server group of a session type without a schedule isessentially an unmanaged server group and will not be power-controlledby the system. In yet another embodiment, the schedule manager 1810includes modules for creating, modifying, and deleting schedules. Instill another embodiment, the schedule manager 1810 allows schedules tobe duplicated for use with other server groups.

In one embodiment, the schedule manager 1810 provides a schedulerinterface for managing schedule definitions. In another embodiment, theschedule manager 1810 provides a controller engine interface forcreating and managing simulation controller engine 1806 instances. Instill another embodiment, the schedule manager 1810 provides a dataaccess layer for retrieving and manipulating schedule definitions in thedatabase. In yet another embodiment, the schedule manager 1810 mayprovide functionality for a power management console 1222 or a powermanagement controller 1206 as described in connection with FIGS. 12-15.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 includes a configuration agent1834 that manages system-wide configuration settings. In anotherembodiment, changes to configuration settings are applied to thedatabase 1830 and shared with other concentrator 1802 instances in thecluster. In still another embodiment, concentrator instance-specificsettings may be written to a registry. In yet another embodiment, theconfiguration agent provides a configuration interface for changingsystem-wide configuration settings. In still even another embodiment,the configuration agent 1834 provides a data access layer for retrievingand manipulating configuration settings in the database 1830.

In one embodiment, a concentrator 1802 includes a load director 1828 tomodify the default behavior of a load balancer to achieve user sessionconsolidation. In another embodiment, the load director 1828 provides amodule that modifies the load state for each server 106 in each servergroup to direct new user sessions to be provided from servers 106 thathave not reach their capacity. In still another embodiment, the loaddirector 1828 sends a command to at least one server agent 1824 tomodify the load state of the servers 106. In yet another embodiment,this process may be referred as load modulation.

In one embodiment, for each workload, the process of power controllingservers 106 in the server group may operate independently from the loaddirector 1828. In another embodiment, for example, a server group canhave its servers 106 power-controlled while the user sessions are notconsolidated—such as when the server group includes critical performancecriteria in which user session consolidation poses a risk. Conversely,user sessions provided by a plurality of servers 106 may be consolidatedonto at least one server 106 of a server group while power controllingthe servers 106.

In one embodiment, the load director 1828 operates based on concentratorconfiguration settings maintained by the configuration agent 1834. Inanother embodiment, the load director 1828 provides a state managementinterface for obtaining server group definitions and server states,including load information collected from a server agent 1824. In stillanother embodiment, the load director 1828 provides a server agentinterface for initiating load modulation requests, via at least oneserver agent 1824, to a plurality of servers 106.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 includes a Wake-on-LAN client1820 for powering on or “waking-up” servers 106, as directed by theworkload controller 1814. In another embodiment, Wake-on-LAN (WOL) isthe default mechanism to power on a server 106. In still anotherembodiment, an override for the default mechanism is provided in theconfiguration settings by an external machine power control 1826 (MPC),workflow, script or application. In yet another embodiment, theWake-on-LAN Client 1820 provides a Wake-on-LAN client interface to poweron or “wake-up” a server 106 from standby mode when provided with theserver's media access control (MAC) address and/or internet protocol(IP) address. In still even another embodiment, the Wake-on-LAN Client1820 provides a network interface for transmitting Wake-on-LAN packets.In still another embodiment, the Wake-on-LAN Client 1820 communicates,via a server agent proxy 1822, with a server agent 1824 to power on or“wake-up” a server 106.

In one embodiment, the concentrator 1802 includes a server agent proxy1822 that acts as an intermediary for requests to server agents 1824. Inanother embodiment, incoming requests may include server registrationsand server state changes. In still another embodiment, outgoing requestsfrom the workload controller 1814 may include a request to allowexisting user sessions to complete/terminate on a server 106 followed bythe powering down of the server 106. In yet another embodiment, outgoingrequests from the load director 1828 include a request to modulate loadon a plurality of servers 106.

In one embodiment, a server agent proxy 1822 publishes a concentratornode in an active directory 1838, as a service connection point (SCP)that includes address and binding information. In another embodiment,the server agent proxy 1822 accepts connection requests with serveragents 1824 when the concentrator 1802 is the master concentrator.

In one embodiment, the server agent proxy 1822 provides a server agentinterface for communications with at least one server agents 1824. Inanother embodiment, the server agent proxy 1822 provides a server agentproxy interface for concentrator components, such as the load director1828, to forward requests to a server agent 1824. In still anotherembodiment, the server agent proxy 1822 provides a resource managementinterface maintained by the state manager 1816 for forwardingregistration requests and server state change events from a server agent1824.

In one embodiment, the system includes at least one server agent 1824,each server agent 1824 executing on each server 106 managed by thesystem. In another embodiment, a server agent 1824 registers a server106, monitors various server state variables and acts on requests issuedby the concentrator 1802. In still another embodiment, the server agent1824 may include functionality provided by a CITRIX EDGESIGHT agent, apower management agent 1220, a monitoring agent 244, 1604, or a clientagent 120, and may reside in a machine, server 106 or client 102. In yetanother embodiment, a server agent 1824 identifies the server agent'sconcentrator endpoint (or cluster of concentrators) by querying asession control protocol (SCP) in an active directory 1838.

In one embodiment, a server agent 1824 may report a change in state,such as a change in load or in the number of sessions provided by theserver 106, to the concentrator 1802. In another embodiment, the serveragent 1824 can respond to concentrator requests to modulate load, or toprepare to decommission a server 106. In still another embodiment, if aconnection to a master concentrator is lost, such as when a slaveconcentrator takes over as the master concentrator, the server agent1824 may failover to other concentrators that have published theirendpoints in an active directory 1838. In yet another embodiment, when aserver agent 1824 loses a connection with the concentrator 1802, theassociated server 106 becomes unmanaged and the server agent 1824relinquishes control of the server 106 and undoes any load balancingchanges that the server agent 1824 has made to the server 106.

In one embodiment, the server agent 1824 provides an agent interface toallow a master concentrator to make requests to the server agent 1824.In another embodiment, this interface operates when a dual communicationchannel is established between the server agent 1824 and theconcentrator 1802. In another embodiment, the server agent 1824 providesa server agent interface for registering a server 106 and notifyingstate changes and changes in session type to a concentrator 1802. Instill another embodiment, the server agent 1824 provides a loadbalancing system interface for tracking state variables for a server106. For example, a state variable may indicate whether a server 106 isin maintenance and another state variable may include information on thecurrent load. In yet another embodiment, the server agent 1824 publishesa concentrator session control protocol (SCP) in an active directory1838.

In one embodiment, the system includes a management console 1804 foradministering and monitoring the state of the system via theconcentrator 1802. In another embodiment, the management console 1804may include modules for simulation management, controller management,schedule management, state management and monitoring, system-wideconfiguration, and reporting. In still another embodiment, themanagement console 1804 provides a simulation controller interface forinitiating, monitoring and managing simulation control processes. In yetanother embodiment, the management console 1804 provides a controllerinterface for controlling the operation of a live controller engine. Instill even another embodiment, the management console 1804 is a powermanagement console 1206.

In one embodiment, the management console 1804 provides a schedulerinterface for managing workload controller schedules. In anotherembodiment, the management console 1804 provides a state managementinterface for managing and observing the running state of the system. Instill another embodiment, the management console 1804 provides aconfiguration interface for changing system-wide configuration settings.In yet another embodiment, the management console 1804 provides areporting interface for executing, displaying and printing pre-definedsystem reports.

Illustrated in FIG. 19 is one embodiment of a method 1901 forestablishing a cloud bridge between two virtual storage resources. Avirtual storage resource receives user credentials from a user, wherethe user credentials identify a storage adapter (Step 1902). The virtualstorage resource invokes the storage adapter identified in the usercredentials (Step 1904), and the storage adapter executes an interfacethat both identifies another virtual storage resource, and that includesa translation file (Step 1906). The virtual storage resource can thenaccess the other virtual storage resource (Step 1908) and can establisha cloud bridge between the two resources (Step 1910).

Further referring to FIG. 19, and in more detail, in some embodimentsthe virtual storage resource, or cloud, can receive user credentialsfrom a user (Step 1902). In some embodiments, this can include passingcredentials to the service or virtual storage resource using a“storage-credential-add” command. For example, the following command canbe issued to the virtual storage resource to pass to the resource usercredentials: CVSM>storage-credential-add name=sys1 module=ACMEipaddress=10.10.10.10 username=admin password=pwd. In some embodiments,the user credentials can identify a storage adapter of another virtualstorage resource.

In some embodiments, the step can further include receiving, by astorage delivery management service executing within the virtual storageresource, the user credentials transmitted to the virtual storageresource by the user. The storage delivery management service, in someembodiments, can store the credentials in a database or other storagerepository.

In one embodiment, the storage delivery management service can enumeratea list of storage adapters associated with the user. In anotherembodiment, the storage delivery management service can enumerate a listof virtual storage resources associated with either the user or astorage adapter identified in the user credentials. Enumerating thevirtual storage resources can include calling a function, e.g.enumerateStorageSystems( ), stored on a storage adapter identified inthe user credentials. The storage adapter, in some embodiments can be anapplication or program that can execute with the virtual storageresource. In other embodiments, the storage adapter can be a virtualhardware device that can be used to interface with other virtual storageresources.

In still other embodiments, any number of storage discovery methods canbe used. In one embodiment, storage discovery methods can permit thestorage delivery management service to discover information about thestorage systems, pools, volumes, target ports and other information ofother virtual storage systems. This information, in some aspects, can beused to interface with and carry out operations with other virtualstorage systems.

The following are examples of certain embodiments of storage discoverymethods or functions available to a virtual storage system:

enumerateStorageSystems

This method allows the a manager of the virtual storage resource serviceto identify other virtual storage resources that can be accessed andmanaged using the user login credentials supplied by the administratorfor your storage adapter. Once the storage systems have been discoveredusers can begin executing operations to interface and use them. In someinstances, at startup, once the storage systems have been discovered,the virtual storage resource service issues one or more additional callsto the storage adapter or storage interface to discover additionaldetails about the other virtual storage system. These calls can includeenumeration calls such as enumerateStoragePools, andenumerateStorageNodes.getStorageSystemInfoThis method is similar, in some embodiments, to theenumerateStorageSystems application program interface. In otherembodiments, it differs in that it requests information for a particularvirtual storage system rather than information about any availablevirtual storage system, where availability is based in part on usercredentials. In still other embodiments, a given management or usercredential (IP address, username, password) maps one-to-one to a singlevirtual storage system. In such cases the application program interfacefor one virtual storage system is substantially identical to the otherapplication program interface for the other virtual storage system. Inthis embodiment, the following command can be used in lieu of the above:return enumerateStorageSystems(cred). In other embodiments, a givencredential provides access to a management appliance through whichmultiple storage systems can be managed. In either case, the abovecommand or method can return storage system information for a specificor particular virtual storage system identified in the input argument,e.g. the storageSystemId input argument.enumerateStorageNodesStorage nodes may also be known in the SMI-S model as a Storage Volumeand very commonly in the industry as a Virtual Disk or a LUN (logicalunit number.) In other embodiments, the term Storage Node is used andmay also refer to additional Storage Node types (such as NAS storage).In some embodiments, the term storage node and storage volume are usedinterchangeably. This method may return a list of exposable storagenodes in the virtual storage system. This may include storage nodes thatare already assigned to hosts.getStorageNodeInfoThis method is similar, in some embodiments, to enumerateStorageNodes.In other embodiments, it differs in that it is requesting informationabout a specific Storage Node.enumerateStoragePoolsIn some embodiments, a storage pool is a pool of storage from which astorage node (aka Storage Volume) can be created. Common vendor namesfor a storage pool include names like RAID Group, Volume Group, and DiskGroup. The logical entity from which one can create Storage Volumes canbe a Storage Pool. Some virtual storage systems have Storage Pools thathave a RAID type associated with them. Others have a set of RAID typesthat the administrator can select when the storage node is beingcreated.getStoragePoolInfoThis method is similar, in some embodiments, to enumerateStoragePools.In other embodiments, it differs in that it is requesting informationabout a specific or particular storage pool. This particular storagepool can be specified in the argument passed to the method.enumerateInitiatorPortsIn one embodiment, this returns a list of initiator ports that arelogged into the virtual storage system. An initiator port, in someembodiments, can be a port used to initiate a connection or tocommunicate with another port.enumerateTargetPortsIn one embodiment, this returns a list of all front-end ports (both FCand iSCSI) in a virtual storage system. Front-end ports can be portsused to communicate with a virtual storage system or resource. In someembodiments, the target port or front-end port can be used to expose astorage to a host.

In some instances, there can be added support for the LUNmasking/storage assignment methods. The term ‘storage assignment’ canrefer to LUN masking & mapping. In one embodiment, there are fourmethods that one could use to enable support for LUN masking, theseinclude: enumerateStorageAssignments, getStorageAssignmentInfo,assignStorage and unassignStorage. The first two methods are discoverymethods and the second two are methods for assigning and unassigningaccess of storage to one or more host initiator ports. In still anotherembodiment, the assignStorage method can be called with a single storagenode. In even another embodiment, the list of host initiator portspassed to the assignStorage call can be a set of host initiator portsthat reside within the same host. In yet another embodiment, LUN maskingmay result in providing access to one or more Storage Nodes, via one ormore Storage System Target Ports (front-end ports), to one or more HostInitiator (HBA) ports.

In some instances, the storage delivery management service executing ona computer and within the virtual storage resource, can invoke thestorage adapter (Step 1904). Invoking the storage adapter can occur inresponse to receiving the user credentials.

In response to being invoked, the storage adapter can execute aninterface that identifies a second virtual storage resource and thatincludes a translation file (Step 1906). In some embodiments, thestorage adapter can use the supplied user credentials (10.10.10.10,admin, pwd) to call a management application program interface, orinterfaces, specific to the storage adaptor. These interfaces can gatherrequested information, and can return the information. For example, theycan return one or more CXSSAStorageSystemInfo instances. In otherembodiments, identification of the second virtual storage resource caninclude identifying a storage system object or an identifier. Theidentifier can be formed using a vendor identifier, a model identifier,and a serial number of the storage system. For example, the vendor andmodel portion may be provided as ACME_A300_, for a (hypothetical) ACMECorporation A300 model of storage system. In still another embodiment, aserial number example might be “ABCDEF1235”, resulting in a storage IDof ACME_A300_ABCDEF12345. In yet another embodiment, non-alphanumericcharacters are converted into hexadecimal characters.

In one embodiment, the translation file included or identified by theinterface can include XML code. For example, the vendor can supply theXML code to describe a SCSI device ID processor for its storage adapter.In another embodiment, the XML code is utilized to process responses torequests for identifiers into identifiers expressed in a common,cross-vendor format.

The process 1901 can further include a step of creating a snapshot ofvirtual storage resources. In some embodiments, the method 1901 caninclude the step of cloning existing storage resources. In someembodiments, storage vendors with an SMI-S compliant storage providercan integrate their SMI-S provider with the interface object 218. Thefollowing sections describe, without limitation, one embodiment of amethod for integrating with the interface object 218 and providing aninterface translation file.

The storage delivery management system can interact with virtual storagesystems from multiple storage vendors. The SMI-S model can providevendors with the means to represent the descriptive data and managementapplication program interfaces for their storage systems (and methodsfor configuration) in a standardized way. However, the SMI-S model, asit evolves, typically lags behind the capabilities of storage systemtechnologies, particularly regarding those high-performance storagesystem features that are difficult to standardize in the model preciselybecause those features are intensely vendor-specific. In addition, insome conventional environments, SMI-S is a highly normalized model,requiring high volumes of individual query calls in order to fullyassemble all the data describing instances of some classes (storagevolumes and physical disk drives for example), which can result inperformance issues on the client side. In some embodiments,implementation of the methods and systems described herein improveperformance.

In one embodiment, other customization features exposed by the interfacetranslation file (which may be referred to as a vendor options file, orVOF) allow a client to take advantage of vendor-specific properties andclass names to, for example, more accurately interpret the meaning ofthose properties, and/or filter lists of certain classes according to“subtype”. In another embodiment, additional properties in a givenobject can relieve the client of the expense of needing to performadditional queries in order to assemble all the descriptive data for agiven object.

In some embodiments, when creating an interface translation file, avendor may opt to rely on default values. In one of these embodiments,as a result, the interface object 218 will look in the SMI-S standardlocations for attributes and objects that it needs to access. In anotherof these embodiments, as a result, many of the optimization featuresdescribed herein are completely optional.

In some embodiments, an interface translation file may include thefollowing items:

-   1. The vendor's <VendorOptions . . . > tag, with its “VendorPattern”    and “ModelPattern” attributes. In one embodiment, this tag encloses    the vendor's set of options, and the two attributes in this tag    specify how the vendor's systems should be identified (from    high-level SMI-S Product information).-   2. The <XssaVendorString> string can specify the vendor string that    VSM will use within the ID strings for storage systems and storage    nodes from that vendor. In other embodiments, other XML attributes    are optional, and can be included in the vendor's XML data if that    vendor implements features that enable the client to take advantage    of the given vendor-specific features or optimizations.

In some embodiments, an interface translation file may include at leastone XML tag. The following table—in which the storage deliverymanagement service is referred to as a virtual storage manager(VSM)—describes some of the tags that may be included in one embodimentof the interface translation file:

Option Tag Name Description Default Value VendorOptions Identifies theVendor Options For VendorPattern and section by system vendor andModelPattern model name patterns, includes the attributes, no default.VendorPattern and ModelPattern attributes. vsmVendorString Vendorsubstring of VSM ssid None. created for this vendor. vsmModelStringModel substring of VSM ssid “SYSTEM” created for this vendor.SysNameTrimString System serial number prefix None, name string useddelimiter. in ssid. VolumeRaidLevelProperty SMI-S Storage Volumeproperty None. Raid Level is that contains the Volume's Raid determinedthrough Level string. Pool or StorageSetting data. VolumeIdPropertySMI-S Storage Volume property Name used for the VSM node IDVolumeIdToken Number of the token within the None. Node ID Volume IDproperty (when contains the Volume tokenized by space char) used for IDproperty. the VSM node ID. ViewFilterProperty SMI-S SCSIProtocolController None, all Views (SPC) property used to filter (SPCs)are kept. which SPCs are to be kept when enumerated (for host-based LunMasking operations). ViewFilterValue If ViewFilterProperty is specified,None. this is the value used to perform the test. Views whose filterproperty matches this value are kept. ViewFilterClassNameToken Alternatemethod of filtering None, all SPCs are SPCs, based on vendor's SMI-Skept. class name. For a view to be kept, its class name must containthis token. PoolIdProperty SMI-S Storage Pool property used ElementName.for the VSM Pool's friendly name. PoolFilterProperty SMI-S StoragePoolproperty used None, all non- to filter which Pools are to be keptprimordial pools are when enumerated (for Volume kept. creationoperations). PoolFilterValue If PoolFilterProperty is specified, None.this is the value used to perform the test. Pools whose filter propertymatches this value are kept. ExposePathElementNameParam Optional(vendor-specific) None. parameter name for “friendly name” in LunMasking (View/SPC creation). ViewNameSupported Specifies whether vendorsupports false friendly names on View/SPC objects. NodeNameSupportedSpecifies whether vendor supports false friendly names on Volumeobjects. IPortNameSupported Specifies whether vendor supports falsefriendly names on initiator port objects. MaxElementNameLength Iffriendly names are supported on No limit. some objects, specifiedmaximum number of characters allowed.The following section provides additional detail associated with each ofthe tags listed above.<VendorOptions>

In one embodiment, this tag contains the tokens by which the VSM(virtual storage manager) module can recognize and identify a givenVendor/Model storage system, from data in that array's “Top Product” CIM(common information model) instance, and can enclose the entire VendorOptions section for the storage system type identified by attributes inthis tag.

In another embodiment, array providers implement the “Physical ProductProduct” profile, in which an instance of the CIM_Product classrepresents the product data for the system as a whole. The key fields inthis CIM-Product instance may include the two properties: “Vendor”: Thevendor name; and “Name”: The name of the storage system product (i.e.,model). For example, the object path of an Acme Systems array modelAZ1000 might look like the following:

Acme_ArrayProduct.IdentifyingNumber=“12345”,Name=“AZ1000”,Vendor=“AcmeSystems Inc.”,Version=“1.2.3” This path may contains these properties:IdentifyingNumber: the serial number; Name: the name of the product,i.e., the model; Vendor: the storage vendor name; and Version: theversion of the product, e.g., the master firmware version.

In one embodiment, the VSM module can examine the data in this “TopProduct” instance from the array's SMI-S provider and use certainregular expression matching to match the values in the Vendor and Nameattributes from this instance to tokens within “VendorOptions” sectionsin the Vendor Options file. These regular expression patterns caninclude:

-   -   Direct match: for example, pattern “Acme” matches vendor “Acme”        and only vendor “Acme”.    -   Trailing wild card: for example, pattern “Acme*” matches “Acme”        and “Acme Systems”, but not “Northwest Acme”.    -   Leading wind card: for example, pattern “*Acme” matches “Acme”        and “Northwest Acme” but not “Acme Systems”.    -   Leading and trailing wind card: for example, pattern “*Acme*”        matches any vendor string in which the token “Acme” occurs        anywhere, including “Acme”, “Northwest Acme” and “Acme Systems”.    -   Wild card: pattern “*” matches anything at all.

The following are some examples of how a definition of the Acme AZ1000might be setup in the CVSM Vendor Options XML file:

<VendorOptions VendorPattern=“Acme*” ModelPattern=“AZ1000”>. . .vendor/model-specific options, see below

</VendorOptions>

This example would match the vendor “Acme” per the examples above, andfor the model would match only the AZ1000. Other examples for the ModelPattern might include:

-   -   ModelPattern=“AZ*”: matches any “AZ” model, including AZ,        AZ1000, AZ500.    -   ModelPattern=“AZ1*”: matches any “AZ 1000 series” model,        including AZ1000, AZ 1500.    -   ModelPattern=“*”: matches any product/model.

In summary, the VSM pattern matching rules may require an exact match,require a leading match, require a trailing match, match anything, or bea pattern that can occur anywhere. At the end of the pattern matchingsearch, in one embodiment, the VSM module can identify a “VendorOptions”section of the vendor options XML file which matches the storage systemin question and contains options and flags specific for that type ofstorage system.

<CvsmVendorString>

<CvsmModelString>

These values are, in one embodiment, the substrings that the VSM moduleuses to construct the VSM “Storage System ID” (“ssid”) for the specificstorage system vendor/model, according to the specific VSM ssid format.For example, the Acme Systems model AZ1000, serial number 12345, mighthave an ssid of “ACME_AZ_(—)12345”. Or if all Acme models behave exactlythe same way, it might simply be “ACME_SYSTEM_(—)12345”. While thevendor and model information used by VSM to pattern match/identify aspecific type of array and construct the vendor and model portions ofthe ssid comes from the storage system's “Top Product” SMI-S instance,the serial number portion of the ssid does not need to come from the“IdentifyingNumber” property of this CIM_Product instance. Rather it maycome, for example, from the “Name” property of the actual instance ofCIM_ComputerSystem representing the storage system itself.

The translation of the vendor and model patterns into the CVSM tokenswithin the CVSM ssid is not necessarily literal or simply a shift touppercase. For example, the VSM module might create ssid strings forstorage systems from the “Consolidated Excelsior Incorporated” companyto something like “CONEX_SYSTEM_(—)123SerialNumber456”.

In some embodiments, possible alternatives to a vender specifying a VSMSSID Token include:

-   -   The vendor supplies their own XML options file per this        document, excluding VSM vendor/model token strings, and submits        this file.    -   Vendors' XML options files are read individually by the VSM        module, according to registry data.    -   The VSM keeps (and updates, as vendors submit their files) a        master XML file to coordinate the options for all vendors, and        defines/sets certain internal options such as the VSM ssid        tokens for the vendors.

If the <vsmModelString> tag is not included in the vendor's file, thisvalue may assume a fixed default value, such as, for example, “SYSTEM”.

<SysNameTrimString>

This option provides, in one embodiment, a means for the serial numberportion of the VSM ssid to exclude certain irrelevant prefix characters.For example, a system's CIM_ComputerSystem.Name property might alwaysprefixed with additional characters delimited by, for example, anunderscore character, such as: “AZSeries_(—)12345”. The options file canspecify a “SysNameTrimString” tag, in this case an underscore, such as:

-   -   <SysNameTrimString>_</SysNameTrimString>        This may cause the VSM module remove the prefix before the        underscore character, and use the remainder for the serial        number portion of the generated ssid for that system.        <VolumeRaidLevelProperty>

The actual “Raid Level” for a given SMI-S Storage Volume may bedetermined by its association to that Volume's instance ofStorageSetting. In addition, the “Raid Level” in the terms of SMI-Sdata, may be the result of calculations involving numeric data includingnumber of data copies, number of spindles that can fail, parity types,etc. Because, in some embodiments, the lookup of StorageSetting data foreach and every Volume in the system is extremely expensive, and becauseRaid Level determination may be very client-unfriendly, and some vendorsopt to simply populate a property on the Volume with a “raid levelstring”, either using an existing StorageVolume property or by adding avendor-specific one. If the vendor provides this data in a StorageVolumeproperty, this VSM Vendor Option tag contains the name of that SMI-SStorage Volume property, which may result in the VSM avoiding the extraexpense.

<VolumeIdProperty>

In some embodiments, the default SMI-S StorageVolume property used byVSM to generate the VSM “node ID” is “Name”. If, in other embodiments, adifferent StorageVolume property contains better data for this purposefor some reason (such as “DeviceID”, or perhaps “AcmeVolID”), this VSMVendor Option contains the name of that SMI-S StorageVolume property.

<VolumeIdToken>

Sometimes the value for the SMI-S property used for the Volume IDincludes a series of space-delimited substrings. In this case, theVolumeIdToken can be specified as a numeric indicator (zero-based) as towhich token within this data field is to be isolated and used in the VSMNode ID. For example, if a vendor specifies (using the VolumeIdPropertyoption) that the StorageVolume “DeviceID” property is to be used, andthe SMI-S StorageVolume instances' DeviceID values are in the form of,for example, “Acme 1234567890”, specifying the VolumeIdToken as “1” willresult in only the second portion of those DeviceID strings will be usedin the VSM Node ID strings.

If not specified, then by default the entire VolumeIdProperty value maybe used.

<ViewFilterProperty>

In some embodiments, when the Views (also known as the SMI-S“SCSIProtocolController”, or “SPC”, objects, and known within VSM as“Storage Assignments”) for a storage system are enumerated, the defaultbehavior is that all SPC objects are propagated to the VSM as StorageAssignment objects. However, in other embodiments, storage systems frommany vendors instantiate different types of SPC objects for differentpurposes, not necessarily just for the host-based Lun Mapping/Masking ofStorage Volumes. VSM allows the filtering of SPCs based on the value ofcertain SMI-S SPC properties by specifying the SPC property name to beexamined. In further embodiments, any SPC object whose value for thisproperty does match the filter value (see the ViewFilterValue vendoroption below) may be excluded from the enumerated list.

<ViewFilterValue>

In one embodiment, this option specifies the value for the SMI-S SPCproperty, whose property name is specified by the ViewFilterPropertyvendor option described above, which will allow a given SPC object,returned from a View enumeration operation, to be included in the listof Views returned to VSM to be converted into VSM Storage Assignmentobjects.

<ViewFilterClassNameToken>

Some vendors, as explained above, instantiate different types ofView/SPC objects which the VSM would wish to exclude from its list ofStorage Assignment objects, and these can be filtered using theViewFilterProperty and ViewFilterValue options. However, in otherembodiments, the SPC objects from some vendors do not include a propertyused for VSM filtering, and this filtering methodology cannot be used.In one of these embodiments, an alternate option can be employed, usingthe ViewFilterClassNameToken vendor option. In other embodiments, thisoption looks at the vendor-specific SMI-S class name for each viewobject, looks for a certain substring within that class name, and keepsthose View objects that contain a match.

For example, if the option string is specified as “LunMasking”, then anSPC object whose class name is “Acme_LunMaskingProtocolController” willmatch, while a class name of “Acme_BackendProtocolController” will not.

<PoolIdProperty>

In one embodiment, the default SMI-S StoragePool property used by VSM togenerate the VSM friendly name (i.e. display name for the VSM GUI) forthe pool is “ElementName”. In another embodiment, if a differentStoragePool property contains better data for this purpose for somereason (such as “PoolID”), this VSM Vendor Option contains the name ofthat SMI-S StoragePool property.

<PoolFilterProperty>

In one embodiment, when the StoragePool objects for a storage system areenumerated, the default behavior is that all pool objects are propagatedto CVSM. However, in other embodiments, storage systems from somevendors instantiate different types of pool objects for differentpurposes, not necessarily just for the creation of Storage Volumes. Inone of these embodiments, the VSM allows the filtering of Pools based onthe value of certain SMI-S pool properties by specifying the poolproperty name to be examined. In another of these embodiments, a poolobject whose value for this property does match the filter value (seethe PoolFilterValue vendor option below) may be excluded from theenumerated list.

<PoolFilterValue>

In one embodiment, this option specifies the value for the SMI-S poolproperty, whose property name is specified by the PoolFilterPropertyvendor option described above, which will allow a given pool object,returned from a Pool enumeration operation, to be included in the listof Pools returned to CVSM to be converted into CVSM pool objects.

<ExposePathsElementNameParam>

In one embodiment, the creation of a CVSM “Storage Assignment” object,which joins access between Volumes/Nodes and host initiator portsthrough the “LUN Mapping and Masking” operations, uses the SMI-Sconfiguration method “ExposePaths”.

In one embodiment, to specify the ElementName of the created SPC somevendors have augmented their ExposePaths method signature to include anadditional parameter, used to specify this friendly name input. Inanother embodiment, since this enhancement is not part of the standardSMI-S specification (and therefore the name of this additional parameteris not standardized), any implementation of this additional capabilityis by definition vendor-specific.If the vendor provides this additional input parameter on theirExposePaths method call, the name of that parameter can be specifiedusing this vendor option.<MaxElementNameLength>

In some embodiments, for those vendors that provide the ability to inputfriendly names on created objects (such as Volumes, Pools, InitiatorPorts, Views, etc) but have limitations on the length of those names,the maximum name length can be specified using this option.

<ViewNameSupported>

<NodeNameSupported>

<IPortNameSupported>

In some embodiments, some vendors provide the ability to input friendlynames on various types of created objects (such as Volumes, Pools,Initiator Ports, Views, etc). These vendor option flags specificallyenumerate which types of objects on which a given vendor supports usernaming. A friendly name, in some embodiments, can be supported oncreating storage volumes (e.g. NodeNameSupported), on creating initiatorports (e.g. IPortNameSupported) or on creating SPCNiews (e.g.ViewNameSupported.)

The following is an example of one embodiment of an interfacetranslation file with relatively few non-default options, other thansupporting a wide variety of friendly names of limited length.

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“utf-8”?> <SmisModuleVendorOptionList><VendorOptions VendorPattern=“Acme*” ModelPattern=“AZ*” ><XssaVendorString>ACME</XssaVendorString><XssaModelString>AZARRAY</XssaModelString><ViewNameSupported>1</ViewNameSupported><NodeNameSupported>1</NodeNameSupported><IPortNameSupported>1</IPortNameSupported><MaxElementNameLength>24</MaxElementNameLength> </VendorOptions></SmisModuleVendorOptionList>

The following is an example of one embodiment of an interfacetranslation file including a plurality of configurable options:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“utf-8”?> <SmisModuleVendorOptionList><VendorOptions VendorPattern=“Consolidated Excelsior*”ModelPattern=“*” > <XssaVendorString>CONEX</XssaVendorString><SysNameTrimString>_</SysNameTrimString><VolumeIdProperty>CEIWWN</VolumeIdProperty><VolumeRaidLevelProperty>ErrorMethodology</VolumeRaidLevelProperty><VolumeIdToken>1</VolumeIdToken><ViewFilterProperty>CEIRole</ViewFilterProperty><ViewFilterValue>LUNMASK</ViewFilterValue><PoolFilterProperty>Usage</PoolFilterProperty><PoolFilterValue>2</PoolFilterValue>ExposePathElementNameParam>CEIElementName</ExposePathElementNameParam><ViewNameSupported>1</ViewNameSupported><NodeNameSupported>1</NodeNameSupported> </VendorOptions></SmisModuleVendorOptionList>

The following is an example of one embodiment of an interfacetranslation file including a minimum in their configuration XML. In someembodiments, it would be assumed that this vendor would be depending onthe SMI-S standard with no additional enhancements:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“utf-8”?> <SmisModuleVendorOptionList><VendorOptions VendorPattern=“ Simple*” ModelPattern=“*” ><XssaVendorString>SSI</XssaVendorString> </VendorOptions></SmisModuleVendorOptionList>

In some embodiments, SCSI device ID generation is accomplished bygathering=SCSI inquiry page information from all the LUNs discovered atthe host and then processing it to create VSM Storage Node Identifiersfor each node. The location of the information for form a Storage NodeIdentifier is specified and unique to each storage system so, in one ofthese embodiments, each vendor specifies how to create one. Rather thanhard-coding this into the VSM service, in another of these embodiments,a vendor may specify this information in XML as a “SCSI Device IDProcessor”. The following are some examples of SCSI ID processors forvarious storage systems from various hardware vendors:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“utf-8”?> <ScsiDeviceIDProcessorsxmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=‘scsi_device_id_config.xsd’><ScsiDeviceIDProcessor> <InquiryMatch> <Vendor>DGC</Vendor></InquiryMatch> <VendorID value=“EMC”> </VendorID> <ProductIDvalue=“CLARIION”> </ProductID> <EnclosureID page=“128” offset=“4”length=“14”> </EnclosureID> <DeviceID page=“131” offset=“8” length=“16”fmt=“hex”> </DeviceID> </ScsiDeviceIDProcessor> <ScsiDeviceIDProcessor><InquiryMatch> <Vendor>HP</Vendor> <Product>HSV300</Product></InquiryMatch> <VendorID value=“HP”> </VendorID> <ProductIDvalue=“EVA”> </ProductID> <EnclosureID page=“0” offset=“154”length=“16”> </EnclosureID> <DeviceID page=“131” offset=“8” length=“16”fmt=“hex”> </DeviceID> </ScsiDeviceIDProcessor> <ScsiDeviceIDProcessor><InquiryMatch> <Vendor>HP</Vendor> <Product>MSA2212fc</Product></InquiryMatch> <VendorID value=“HP”> </VendorID> <ProductIDvalue=“MSA”> </ProductID> <EnclosureID page=“131” offset=“36”length=“7”> </EnclosureID> <DeviceID page=“128” offset=“4” length=“32”></DeviceID> </ScsiDeviceIDProcessor> <ScsiDeviceIDProcessor><InquiryMatch> <Vendor>HP</Vendor> <Product>MSA2212i</Product></InquiryMatch> <VendorID value=“HP”> </VendorID> <ProductIDvalue=“MSA”> </ProductID> <EnclosureID page=“131” offset=“36”length=“7”> </EnclosureID> <DeviceID page=“128” offset=“4” length=“32”></DeviceID> </ScsiDeviceIDProcessor> <ScsiDeviceIDProcessor><InquiryMatch> <Vendor>NETAPP</Vendor> <Product>LUN</Product></InquiryMatch> <VendorID value=“NETAPP”> </VendorID> <ProductIDvalue=“LUN”> </ProductID> <EnclosureID page=“192” offset=“20” length=“4”fmt=“hex”> </EnclosureID> <DeviceID page=“131” offset=“21” length=“12”fmt=“hex”> </DeviceID> </ScsiDeviceIDProcessor></ScsiDeviceIDProcessors>

In one embodiment, the InquiryMatch information is used to determine ifa given LUN with its VENDOR and PRODUCT strings in the STD INQUIRY pageare a match with this SCSI ID processor. If so, the values underVendorID and Product ID are used to form the first half of the StorageNode ID. In another embodiment, the information in the Enclosure ID tagis used to extract information from the indicated SCSI VDP page to formthe Enclosure ID portion of the Storage Node ID. In still anotherembodiment, the device ID is extracted. In yet another embodiment, thefinal storage node id may take the form:VENDORID_PRODUCTID_ENCLOSUREID_DEVICEID. In some embodiments, this willmatch the Storage Node ID layout generated by the storage systeminterface object 234 (see enumerateStorageNodes, getStorageNodeInfo) orspecified in the interface translation XML file for SMI-S basedintegrations.

It should be understood that the systems described above may providemultiple ones of any or each of those components and these componentsmay be provided on either a standalone machine or, in some embodiments,on multiple machines in a distributed system. The systems and methodsdescribed above may be implemented as a method, apparatus or article ofmanufacture using programming and/or engineering techniques to producesoftware, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. In addition,the systems and methods described above may be provided as one or morecomputer-readable programs embodied on or in one or more articles ofmanufacture. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass code or logic accessible from and embedded in oneor more computer-readable devices, firmware, programmable logic, memorydevices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, SRAMs, etc.), hardware (e.g.,integrated circuit chip, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.), electronicdevices, a computer readable non-volatile storage unit (e.g., CD-ROM,floppy disk, hard disk drive, etc.). The article of manufacture may beaccessible from a file server providing access to the computer-readableprograms via a network transmission line, wireless transmission media,signals propagating through space, radio waves, infrared signals, etc.The article of manufacture may be a flash memory card or a magnetictape. The article of manufacture includes hardware logic as well assoftware or programmable code embedded in a computer readable mediumthat is executed by a processor. In general, the computer-readableprograms may be implemented in any programming language, such as LISP,PERL, C, C++, C#, PROLOG, or in any byte code language such as JAVA. Thesoftware programs may be stored on or in one or more articles ofmanufacture as object code.

Having described certain embodiments of methods and systems fordelivering resources between local and remote enterprise hosting sites,it will now become apparent to one of skill in the art that otherembodiments incorporating the concepts of the disclosure may be used.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for establishing a cloud bridge betweena first virtual storage resource and a second virtual storage resourcefor transmitting data from one of the first virtual storage resource andthe second virtual storage resource to another of the first virtualstorage resource and the second virtual storage resource, the methodcomprising: invoking, by a storage delivery management service, astorage adapter for a first virtual storage resource, the storageadapter associated with a user credential, wherein the storage deliverymanagement service is executing on a computer within the first virtualstorage resource and the first virtual storage resource is provisionedon at least one storage system comprising one or more hardware devices;enumerating, by the storage delivery management service, a list ofvirtual storage resources associated with the user credential, whereinthe list includes a second virtual storage resource provisioned on atleast one storage system comprising one or more hardware devices;executing, via an interface for the storage adapter, an instruction toidentify the second virtual storage resource in the enumerated list, theinterface comprising an interface translation file mapping each of aplurality of proprietary vendor-specific formats for representingproperties and descriptive data of respective vendor's storage resourcesto a standardized format for representing properties and descriptivedata of storage resources; and establishing, by the storage deliverymanagement service, a cloud bridge between the first virtual storageresource and the second virtual storage resource using managementinformation stored in a proprietary vendor-specific format for thesecond virtual storage resource, the management information translatedto the standardized format by the storage adapter using the interfacetranslation file.
 2. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving, by thestorage delivery management service, data comprising the usercredential.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein invoking the storageadapter is responsive to receiving the data comprising the usercredential.
 4. The method of claim 2, the data comprising the usercredential further comprising identification of the storage adapter. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the enumerated list is a list of virtualstorage resources that are associated with the storage adapter.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, comprising enumerating the list of virtual storageresources associated with the storage adapter responsive to invoking thestorage adapter.
 7. The method of claim 1, comprising enumerating a listof access ports in the second virtual storage resource responsive toinvoking the storage adapter.
 8. The method of claim 7, comprising:selecting an access port from the list of access ports; and issuing aconnection request to the selected access port, the connection requesttranslated by the storage adapter using the interface translation file.9. The method of claim 7, comprising: selecting an access port from thelist of access ports; establishing a connection to the selected accessport of the second virtual storage resource; and accessing data storedin the second virtual storage resource via the access port.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, the interface translation file comprising at leastone markup tag.
 11. A system for establishing a cloud bridge between afirst virtual storage resource and a second virtual storage resource fortransmitting data from one of the first virtual storage resource and thesecond virtual storage resource to another of the first virtual storageresource and the second virtual storage resource, the system comprising:a storage delivery management service executing on a computer within afirst virtual storage resource provisioned on at least one storagesystem comprising one or more hardware devices, the storage deliverymanagement service configured to: invoke a storage adapter for the firstvirtual storage resource, the storage adapter associated with a usercredential; enumerate a list of virtual storage resources associatedwith the user credential, wherein the list includes a second virtualstorage resource provisioned on at least one storage system comprisingone or more hardware devices; execute, via an interface for the firststorage adapter, an instruction to identify the second virtual storageresource in the enumerated list, the interface comprising an interfacetranslation file mapping each of a plurality of proprietaryvendor-specific formats for representing properties and descriptive dataof respective vendor's storage resources to a standardized format forrepresenting properties and descriptive data of storage resources; andestablish a cloud bridge between the first virtual storage resource andthe second virtual storage resource using management information storedin a proprietary vendor-specific format for the second virtual storageresource, the management information translated to the standardizedformat by the first storage adapter using the interface translationfile.
 12. The system of claim 1, the storage delivery management serviceconfigured to receive, by the storage delivery management service, datacomprising the user credential.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein thestorage delivery management service invokes the storage adapterresponsive to receiving the data comprising the user credential.
 14. Thesystem of claim 12, the data comprising the user credential furthercomprising identification of the storage adapter.
 15. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the enumerated list is a list of virtual storageresources that are associated with the storage adapter.
 16. The systemof claim 15, the storage delivery management service configured toenumerate the list of virtual storage resources associated with thestorage adapter responsive to invoking the storage adapter.
 17. Thesystem of claim 11, the storage delivery management service configuredto enumerate a list of access ports in the second virtual storageresource responsive to invoking the storage adapter.
 18. The system ofclaim 17, the storage delivery management service configured to: selectan access port from the list of access ports; and issue a connectionrequest to the selected access port, the connection request translatedby the storage adapter using the interface translation file.
 19. Thesystem of claim 17, the storage delivery management service configuredto: select an access port from the list of access ports; establish aconnection to the selected access port of the second virtual storageresource; and access data stored in the second virtual storage resourcevia the access port.
 20. The system of claim 11, the interfacetranslation file comprising at least one markup tag.